Unemployment, the economists say, is a lagging indicator.

The economy turns down, unemployment rises. The economy turns up, unemployment stays high for a while.

What this means is you should look for more increases in unemployment this year.

It’ll be as bad as last year, according to a prediction announced Monday at The Conference Board.

Last year, the nation lost 2.5 million jobs.

Trends tracked by the research organization point to a loss of 2 million more jobs in 2009.

The Conference Board looks at job openings, part-time hiring, factory production and sales, among other things, to figure out which way employment is going.

It's not going up. Jobs are still being lost.

I thought unemployment would rise this year, but geez, that's a very high number.

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