This paper reviews labor market developments in 2009 and developments in state unemployment insurance (UI) programs drawing upon statistical reports by the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Office of Workforce Security of the U.S. Department of Labor. Next, the paper examines income data from the March 2009 Current Population Survey to summarize the implications of the 200809 recession for U.S. poverty rates. The unusually high unemployment of 2009 and the likely high unemployment of 2010 and later years point to near-term poverty rates much higher than the poverty rates of previous years.