Cue the alarms, the warning sirens, the panic and the bear stampede on the Street today ... the U.S. nonfarm payrolls dropped unexpectedly in December.

The good news? November nonfarm payrolls were actually revised higher, reflecting a gain of 4,000 jobs. Despite November's gain, payrolls dropped by 4.2 million in 2009, bringing the two-year total of job losses for the recession to 7.3 million. As for the official unemployment rate, it remained at 10% during December. That said, the data that includes discouraged workers and those forced to work part time increased to 17.3% from 17.2%. Perhaps the most discouraging aspect of the report was that there were "few signs of further improvement in labor conditions."

The job market looked grim at the beginning of 2009, but as we crossed into 2010, there seems to be a glimmer of hope. We still aren't seeing jobs added yet, but at least the cuts are headed in the right direction. Last month, according to Challenger, Gray & Christmas, announced layoffs fell 10% to 45,094. This is the lowest level seen since December 2007, exactly two years earlier, when there were only 44,416 job cuts. The most recent tally is also off 10% from November's 50,349, making it the fifth month in a row that layoffs have decreased. Since July, the stat has fallen 14% a month, on average.

Now that it's reached 10.2%, the unemployment rate is higher than it's been in 26 years. That puts plenty of people on the hunt for work, especially since the unemployment rate doesn't reflect everyone who's been affected by the recession, such as those who have been unemployed too long or who are underemployed. Lacking alternatives at home, more Americans are heading overseas to find their fortunes weather the storm.

The number of people looking for international work through Manpower Inc. (MAN), the largest staffing firm in the country, has increased over the past six months. Half a year ago, Jeff Joerres, the company CEO, said that only a few dozen were looking for work outside the U.S. Now, it's up to 500. He tells USA Today, "It is a phenomenon we haven't had before."

What is COBRA? COBRA is a federal program that allows you to continue your health insurance after you leave a company. If you choose this option, you must pay your share and the company's share of your health insurance. For singles it averages about $400.00 and for families it averages $1050.00

The unemployment rate increased in 23 states in September, with 43 reporting job losses for the month (though not at an accelerating rate). This does signal that we're (hopefully) in the early stages of an economic recovery ... though this can also mean that some job seekers have just given up (and are no longer counted).

Layoffs have slowed down a bit, but companies aren't crazy about taking on new bodies. So far, 600,000 people have dropped out of the hunt. Unemployment now sits at 9.8%.

We've watched stock market numbers bounce around for two years. Unemployment stats have served as unpleasant reminders that, for some, leading indicators haven't translated to reality. We look for so many ways to understand the brutal economic environment with which we've had to contend, and all the choices can make your head spin. So, let's make it simple. Here are eight ways to tack a label onto the financial world in which we live.

1. Lost market value
Total stock market losses from October 2007's top to March 2009's bottom: $11.2 trillion
Total gains in the stock market since the bottom: $4.6 trillion
Lost ground: $6.6 trillion

2. Bad days
Percentage of the 10 worst days in history for the Dow Jones Industrial Average that happened in 2008, by point drops: 60%
Percentage of the 10 worst days in history for the DJIA that happened in 2008, by percentage drops: 30%

3. Mutual funds
Value of mutual fund assets at the end of 2007: $6.5 trillion
... and a year later: $3.7 million
Lost value: $2.8 trillion

But, it got a little better at the end of August 2009: $4.5 trillion (value of assets)

If you're single, you're 50% more likely to lose your job, according to a study published Friday by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. This is no different from most recessions, but neither the stat nor the trend loses its shock value with each downturn. Now that the unemployment rate has edged higher, to 9.8% last month, the plight of singles is worsening.

Single employment fell 4.8% from December 2007 through June, with the married folks losing their jobs at a rate of only 3.1%. In August, the single jobless rate reached 13.5%, while those encumbered with spouses fared much better at 6.3%.

Layoff announcements hit their lowest level since March 2008 last month, signaling market stabilization. Global outplacement consulting firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc. put the number of cuts at 66,404 for September, a 13% decline from July's 76,456. Year-over-year, the number of layoffs announced is down 30%, and September was the fourth month in a row in which job cuts fell relative to the same month a year earlier.

Planned job cuts reached 240,233 for the third quarter of 2009, according to Challenger, its lowest level since the first quarter of 2008, when there were 200,656 planned layoffs. For the third quarter of this year, job cuts fell 24.5% from the previous quarter's 318,165, and it's off 16.3% from 287,142 in the third quarter of 2009. At the beginning of 2009, the planned layoff rate reached a seven-year high of 578,510. Since then, the planned layoff rate fell 58.5%.

The rate at which jobs were cut slowed in August, but the gap to be filled will be with us for a while. With 14.9 million people looking for jobs according to Moody's Economy.com, the unemployment rate won't hit 5% -- considered "normal" -- until 2014. To put this in perspective, we still have one presidential election and two mid-term contests between now and a full employment recovery.

Data published by the Department of Labor Friday puts the unemployment rate at 9.7%. In December 2007, it was only 4.7%. And, as BloggingStocks reported on Friday, it could pass 10% by the end of 2009. For teenagers, the unemployment rate has reached 26%. The number of job-seekers who have given up completely is above 750,000 -- the highest level since the Department of Labor started keeping score in 1994.

Across the country, college classes are starting. In each of these classrooms, students are struggling with calculus, trudging through Candide, and wondering just what the hell they're going to do with their degrees upon graduation. The last of these is characteristic of every college student, especially those of us, with the foresight fortitude recklessness zeal to major in liberal arts fields (in my case, Philosophy).

The anxiety is a bit higher this year, given a high rate of unemployment, the likelihood of a "jobless recovery" and the fact that it could take years for destroyed value to be recovered.