There are so many indications that THIS recession is different from others in the past as we have well seen. Aside from the fact that it is now the longest since the 1930’s, the large scale growth of the U.S. population has skewed employment statistics drastically.

Below is an interesting look into how the rising population along with significant expansion of productivity (aka : technology advances taking the place of human workers) has made its mark.

One has to wonder how we will actually add payrolls at the rate necessary to meet the long term goals of a growing economy. With less manufacturing and fewer employed, the vicious cycle should create, at best, a slow recovery. The best shot for sustained growth is going to be a breakthrough in something that we have to discover.

Recall that the 2003-2007 growth was actually a combination of real estate/credit expansion as well as technology advances allowing for the U.S. to ironically, get into the predicament we find ourselves in today – Loaned to the MAX with less overall employment needs.

(Click chart to enlarge – Source – Bloomberg)