Nov. 2--The comments reek of fear and anger. Posted below a news item about the Senate's failure to pass an unemployment benefits bill, they come from people living week-to-week, check-to-check in the worst recession in 65 years.

Some call for a march on Washington. Some urge the defeat of all incumbents. Some curse, and some plead. The message from "Thomas" is typical.

"This is ridiculous. The economy is shot. I have sent out nearly 70 resumes in the past six months and only been called for two interviews.

"I have been in the work force for 20 years, and always paid my taxes. I do not need a handout, but I need help. I am in dire need.

"If I can't get a job in the next couple of months, then I am going to be living on the streets. Please get over the petty in-house fighting and do something to help the people at home. DO WHAT YOU SAID. Help us here at home. ENOUGH IS ENOUGH."

As analysts point to a handful of indicators that suggest the recession is relaxing its grip, millions of laid-off workers remain caught it in its clutches. The financial data so crucial to economists means nothing to people who've been jobless for nine months or a year.

To them, only one figure matters, and it's still going the wrong way.

The unemployment rate in Florida is 11 percent -- a rate that state estimators predicted in July wouldn't happen until the first quarter of 2010.

Metro Orlando's jobless rate, a figure driven by layoffs in the tourist and construction industry, jumped to 11.5 percent in September, 1.7 points higher than the national average.

In Florida, the numbers represent about 1 million people out of work in a work force of about 1.2 million. Nationally, more than 7.2 million people have been thrown out of work since December 2007.

More than one third of them have been jobless for six months or more. In the 61 years federal officials have tracked that data, the figure has never been higher.

"Long-term unemployment is off-the-charts," said Heather Boushey, an economist with the Center for American Progress, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank. "The numbers are huge."

How big? Economists say total job losses will likely approach 9 million before the labor market improves. If the recovery that follows is similar to those experienced after the past two recessions, total jobs lost won't be replaced until 2016.

There was a time when Pam Kilgore would have had trouble believing that. But in the past 18 months she's had plenty of experience with Central Florida's scorched labor landscape.