The article discusses how the U.S. unemployment rate has risen during the recession and explores why it may not recover as quickly as in the past. Changes in the labor market since the 1980s and the presence of a banking crisis are factors that could slow down the recovery of unemployment. International data also show that countries with banking crises tend to have high and lasting unemployment rates. This suggests that the U.S. may experience a slower recovery from this recession compared to previous ones.