The No Shit, Sherlock Award Goes to...

Jeannine Aversa of Associated Press, who states the obvious about the unemployed, who are always hard hit, no matter how good the economy is doing.

In some ways it is easier to job hunt thanks to almost all job openings being available through the internet, but in some ways it is damned worse:

Layoffs have forced some older workers into retirement, yet fewer of them can fall back on traditional pensions that pay a steady monthly sum. Only 11 percent of active workers have a traditional pension, according to the Employee Benefit Research Institute. That's down from 50 percent in 1982.

Instead, more workers today have 401(k)-type retirement plans. Those have taken huge hits in this downturn. The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell as much as 57 percent earlier this year from its October 2007 peak and is still down about 32 percent.

I used to be able to bounce back after each layoff, but I haven't been able to this time. And I doubt I ever will.