Nothing comes easily to the job seeker in this market. Though there are signs of stability, unemployment isn't expected to turn the corner until sometime this summer. A new survey that Challenger, Gray & Christmas revealed to BloggingStocks finds that 16% of would-be employees believe their hunts will take more than a year. More than half aren't sure when they'll find new positions. The survey was conducted by phone during the 24th annual two-day free job search advice call-in on December 28 and 29.

This year, 81% of the callers were unemployed, an increase from 76% a year earlier and a more modest 55% in 2007. And, confidence was down. Last month, only 12.4% of the callers felt they'd be able to find a job in up to three months, off from 27% in 2008. Those who thought it would take between four and seven months fell from 31% in 2008 to 12.2% in 2009.

Although it's unlikely that a lot of hiring will happen next year, the latest study from CareerBuilder shows that it's not for lack of trying. Employers in the U.S. plan to hire more in 2010 than they did this year – which isn't terribly hard to achieve – with 20% of them intending to add full-time employees. That's up from 14% in 2009, CareerBuilder reports. Only 9% plan to cut positions this year, which is much better than 2009's 16%.

It can be pretty easy to misinterpret this data.

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."

There's always good news, if you're willing to look hard for it. So, even though consumer sentiment dropped as unemployment rose, you can find the seeds of economic recovery in some of the U.S. import and export data reported recently.

Consumer sentiment fell early this month, largely because of the grim outlook for the job market. Consumers don't see a recovery coming anytime soon, with economists saying that unemployment has yet to peak despite having hit 10.2% already. Hopes edged higher in September when imports were seen to be on the rise, but sentiment starts and ends with jobs.

Work smarter not harder. Do more with less. Increase your output. Become more productive.

You've heard all this before, right? What it all means is that layoffs are coming, and the survivors are going to have to take on a hell of a lot more work, with no increase in support, resources or compensation. As cuts come, the survivors fight to survive, and succeeding means that a new benchmark is set. If you can survive without the help you used to have, it's easier to defer hiring for a while.

Ten months ago again, newly laid-off unemployment claims fell to their lowest level in close to a year, suggesting that the job market may be showing signs of life. It feels like today's situation is the same.

Of course, declining claims isn't the same as new hiring, but at least it suggests that the bleeding is slowing down. The new unemployment rate is due to be published in a few minutes, and economists expect the rate to rise to 9.9%, a hair over September's 9.8%.

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.

Unemployment is at 9.8%, and it's expected to clear 10% early next year. Then, we have the specter of a jobless recovery with which to contend. "Full employment" is often considered to be an unemployment rate of 4% to 5%, but it could be a while before we get there. The last downturn, following the dotcom bust, resulted in a peak unemployment rate of 6.3% in 2003 ... and we're already well past that.

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

It's going to get worse before it gets better, according to Stone & McCarthy Research. Early 2010 has "the more troublesome outlook," as the economy will have to walk on its own, the research firm says. This year, it's had a pair of crutches: tax credits for first-time home buyers and the cash-for-clunkers program. So, if the stimulus hasn't taken hold by the end of the year, the first quarter could be a bruiser.

The firm adds that "continued growth in aggregate demand" is needed, bringing the discussion back to consumer spending . . . which is where it will always land. We're likely to see the 3.2% growth rate from July through September drop to 2.4% at the end of the year because the crutches will have been gone. And, let's not forget that unemployment is expected to break the 10% level next year.

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)

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.

The Labor Department reported that initial claims for unemployment rose to 551,000 from 534,000 in the previous week, much more than the 5,000 economists had expected. The number remaining on the rolls fell by 70,000 to 6.09 million, but this statistic likely is unreliable because of all the people who have exhausted their benefits.

Congress has added 53 weeks of benefits on top of the the usual 26 weeks. Now with thousands of people having exhausted their benefits, Congress is considering extending benefits for another 13 weeks.

Immigrants to the United States with unique or valuable skills are starting to complete the roundtrip. Economic pressures and a difficult job market here have led many to return to their native countries to pursue new opportunities. This is particularly the case with immigrants from India and China, whose economies are growing this year. Meanwhile, unemployment is 9.7% in the United States right now – and likely to hit 10.3% early next year.

China's gross domestic product is poised to increase by 7.5% by the end of 2009, with India's up 5.4%. In the United States, on the other hand, GDP is forecasted to drop 2.6%.

President Obama was in Cincinnati yesterday, where he spoke to a group of union members at a picnic. While he was on his way here, the White House released a statement noting that "working Americans will help our nation emerge from this crisis." Nevertheless, the President believes that the country still faces a "vast and complex" economic crisis. Here is the problem, with a dwindling American workforce, President Obama says that it will be the working Americans that pull the nation out of the economic crisis. Last time we checked (and that was last week), the jobless rate was 9.7%.

Last Friday the market reacted favorably (or less negatively) to the latest report from the Labor Department's unemployment figures of 9.7 percent in August, as employers cut 216,000 jobs last month. The percentage is up but the raw numbers are trending down allowing for a sigh of relief on Wall Street with the major indices all up over 1%.

Many would argue that when it comes to the truth, the government is prone to favor aesthetic figures instead of the straight data. I tend to agree with this view as the numbers appear sculpted to be the least offensive.

Can you figure out what these unemployment numbers mean? The headline reads that initial claims for state unemployment insurance benefits fell 24,000 to 601,000. This is being hailed as a piece of good news because analysts were expecting claims to drop to 615,000. In all fairness claims were down from the 621,000 the previous week.

The number of people staying on the unemployment rolls after collecting their initial week of unemployment rose to 6.82 million in the week ending May 30th.