Wuzzy, Willie B. or Izzy a ... Recession? (click to enlarge) As this graph from the Current Population Survey shows, the recent rate of increase in the number of jobless workers -- which runs through March of this year and so does not include the surge in unemployment recorded for the month of May -- may signal an "official" recession. But don't tell the American people that. Three-quarters of us say that we're in one already.