In the New York Times, Bob Herbert and Paul Krugman have proposed ideas for economic stimulus measures aimed at reducing unemployment. While these measures are better to doing nothing, they will not solve the problem, because they do not address some of the causes of unemployment. For while some of the increase in unemployment is due to economic indicators, the other cause is the hiring system. This is the issue "mainstream" media like the New York Times is unwilling to ignore.
Consider age discrimination. Stimulating the creation of jobs does not mean that persons older than 50 will be hired to fill them. It doesn't stop employers from laying off employees who are approaching retirement or employees approaching eligibility for a month of paid vacation.
Similarly, it doesn't address the use of psychological tests, which are ubiquitous in hiring in jobs not requiring a college degree. The tests will screen out anyone whose personality type does not match the personality characteristics defined for the job. Persons who are not assessed as a business personality type are blocked from employment.
A job stimulus doesn't address the screening out of persons who may have a mark on their credit score.
Merely creating jobs does not address the issue that the jobs may be outsourced to other countries or that the employer will fill the jobs with H1-Bs at a salary 30% lower than that earned by Americans.
Employers are trying to create a workforce of workers who are male, ages 25-35, with no disabilities and, preferably, from cultures that emphasize obedience. Elaborate means are being taken to exclude those who are not "perfect" candidates: older workers, the disabled, women in science, anyone with a negative mark on a credit report, minorities, anyone who does not score as a business type on a psychological test.
Meanwhile job seekers are bombarded with job seekers "lore" making them feel insecure and putting them on the defensive about their job seeking skills. This lore attempts make job seekers feel that the reason they didn't get a job is the wrong resume, weak interviewing skills or not knowing how to network and tap the "hidden" [read: nonexistent] job market. This ubiquitous lore clouds the real truth about the unemployment crisis: a hiring system designed to permanently exclude a class of people from the workforce.
Until the hiring system is addressed, unemployment will continue.