Some of the jobs that have disappeared through this recession are gone forever, it seems. Even when the market turns, and even gains momentum, we could be stuck with a fairly weak employment market for a while. The recovery will take longer than we'd like, putting more distance between now and the top of the next market run. We've lost 7.2 million jobs since December 2007, and the predictions of some economists that we'll get them back by 2014 may actually seem optimistic.

Why is the recovery going to be such a grind? Check out the four major reasons after the jump.

Unemployment is at its highest level since 1983, hitting 9.8% last month. The Department of Labor announced that 263,000 jobs were lost. This follows a revised loss of 201,000 jobs in August (lower than first reported). Nobody expected the August unemployment reprieve to last, and the increase suggests that the forecasted 10.3% unemployment rate for early next year will be realized.

Originally, the forecasted unemployment drop for September was 175,000, according to Bloomberg News, with individual economists surveyed reporting in a range of 100,000 to 260,000.

Here's one that people are also trying to blame on executives at the Big Three automakers -- the private aviation industry is hurting. Can you hear the violins starting?

Reportedly, corporate "giants ranging from Bank of America to Time Warner are grounding planes," thanks to the faltering economy and public outcry.

How can this be traced back to the automakers? The public outrage really started when the CEOs of the automakers eschewed a more economical style of transport for the lush trappings of their private jets when they were headed to Capitol Hill.

Back on tax day, my friend and colleague Elizabeth Harrow wondered if Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO) would announce job cuts when it reports earnings tomorrow. Ms. Harrow looked at a report in The New York Times about preparations for a "significant round of layoffs" and then took a look at the option activity on the Internet search portal a week ahead of earnings.

Something that Elizabeth noted was the fact that the 15 strike was going to assume the mantle of peak call open interest when the market opens for trading festivities today. This level could be a major sticking point for the stock, as Yahoo hasn't closed atop the $15 level since late 2008.

At roughly 7:30 AM EST, National Semiconductor (NYSE: NSM) released its third-quarter earnings report. The semiconductor company announced earnings of 9 cents per diluted share -- down from 16 cents per share in the second quarter.

In last year's third quarter, NSM reported earnings per diluted share of 29 cents per share. According to MarketWatch, the Street expected NSM to post a loss of 5 cents per share. Quarterly revenue dropped to $292 million, short of the consensus estimate of $296.8 million.