Frequently, you will hear folks like Ben Bernanke and Barack Obama say that "2008 is different than the depression because now unemployment is mid-single digits and back in the depression unemployment was 25%."
Well that's a true statement---It fails to note that back during the market crash of 1929, the unemployment rate was single digits. However, that quickly rose for the next 4 years to a high of ~25%, and stayed high for over a decade.
Well I hope that we won't ever again see unemployment north of 20%, I do think that we will see the negative feedback loop continuing as institutions and individuals de-lever and cut back on investment & spending. This will result in fewer jobs and perhaps a multi-year bout of double-digit unemployment.
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