Semiwiki.com posted a very interesting summary of A Failure Analysis of the US Economy on their website. The reason we have jobless recoveries is due to productivity and the supply-demand gap. Basically, companies have become so efficient that they can respond to present demand without hiring workers. Worker wages have stagnated or have been falling, and consumer debt has been rising until recently so consumers are not able to consume as much. Demand has thus been limited as a result. The economy will not grow until the gap between demand and productivity is closed. This is the supply-demand gap. The full article can be found at A Failure Analysis of the US Economy