Unemployment rate rose to 7.2% in December

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The unemployment rate rose to 7.2% in December, the highest it has been since 1993.

The government also does report a so-called underemployment rate, which includes some part-time workers as well as people who have given up looking for work during the past year. That figure is now 13.5%.

Prior to 1994, all people who were "discouraged workers" were counted in the unemployment survey. But that's no longer the case. So he believes his number is more of an apples-to-apples comparison to some of the numbers cited about the peak level of unemployment during the Great Depression, which was around 25%.

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2/6/2009 update:

Nationwide: 7.6%
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3/6/2009:

Nationwide: 8.1%
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5/8/2009

Nationwide: 8.9%