DOUG JOHNSON: Last Thursday night, President Obama spoke to Congress to present his plan for job growth. His proposals include an extension of jobless benefits for workers who have been unemployed for extended periods. The plan also includes tax breaks for companies to hire more workers and money for projects to fix roads and schools.

The Labor Department counts about fourteen million workers as unemployed. Millions more are working part time as they try to find full-time employment.

The so-called Great Recession officially lasted from December of two thousand seven to June of two thousand nine. Unemployment was five percent at the start. It reached 10.1 percent in late two thousand nine. This year the jobless rate has been stuck around nine percent.

There are concerns that the United States -- and the world -- could face another recession. Some economists say a "double-dip" could be more painful for average Americans because the economy is weaker than it was before the first recession.

FAITH LAPIDUS: Don Peck is a writer and editor at the Atlantic magazine. In his new book, “Pinched,” he says economic conditions are limiting opportunities for millions of Americans. He says the generation of young Americans known as millennials -- those now graduating from high school and college -- are especially affected.

DON PECK: “The first few years on the job market are extremely important to setting the career track and life path of young people. When young people struggle -- when whole generations struggle in their first few years in the job market -- academic research shows that not only do they start out behind, they never catch up to where they otherwise would’ve been.”