The August 2011 monthly unemployment figures show the official unemployment rate remained at 9.1% and the total jobs gained were 0. That's right, zero. Total private jobs came in at 17,000 with government jobs dropping -17,000.

The July unemployment report is yet another disappointment, with not enough jobs to keep up with population growth. The jobs situation has been dismal for 43 months or over three and a half years. Yet those thinking Economic Armageddon Redux was suddenly upon us, literally crashing the BLS server to get the news, were sorely mistaken.

Earlier we reviewed the July 2011 BLS employment ratios. While not the Armageddon Wall Street was expecting, it's clear the job crisis has not dissipated. Both June and May new jobs numbers were revised upward, but not enough.

The change in total nonfarm payroll employment for May was revised from +25,000 to +53,000, and the change for June was revised from +18,000 to +46,000.

Let's drill down deeper into the numbers to show just how badly America needs good jobs.

There are 13,931,000 people officially unemployed, and if one takes the alternative measure of unemployment, it's 24.7 million.

The June 2011 monthly unemployment figures show the official unemployment rate increased to 9.2% and the total jobs gained were 18,000. Total private jobs came in at 57,000 with government jobs dropping -39,000. Since March the official unemployed has increased by over half a million.