Unemployment numbers in early 2009

It's still shocking to me how badly this economy is still spiraling down. I hope it doesn't ever hit levels as low as The Great Depression, but some of the key indicators are indicating it could be. Here's some latest U.S. numbers that will cause a great depression for you and me:

• the number of U.S. people receiving regular unemployment benefits rose 170,000 to 4.99 million for the week ending Feb. 7



• the claims figure also was significantly above the year-ago level of 2.77 million



• an additional 1.5 million people are receiving benefits under an extended unemployment compensation program approved by Congress last year, bringing the total number of people receiving unemployment benefits to 6.54 million for the week ending Feb. 7