Unemployment dipps for the first time in 15 months

While the unemployment rate nationally showed some slight improvement as reported by several media sources, including the Washington Post we still have quite a ways to go and many are concerned that this is not the end of the recession/depression but a temporary reduction. Depending on what next months numbers are will give more answers. Either way, the reality as to why there was a dip is not really anything to celebrate:

The stabilization in the economy is not rippling through to ordinary American workers. Economists generally expect the unemployment rate to resume its rise in the coming months, ultimately reaching or surpassing 10 percent.

The July decline in the jobless rate came about not because more people had jobs, but because 422,000 people removed themselves from the labor force, essentially giving up the search for work. The number of long-term unemployed people -- those who have been out of a job but looking for more than 26 weeks -- rose by another 584,000.

It's really kind of misleading to trumpet these numbers as good when it is because people have given up looking for work...