Did the U.S. Job Market improve?

The U.S. job figures are presented in this graph. The unemployment finally edged under the famous 8 percent. Yet the participation rate (job force/potential job force) remained at a remarkable low rate and the average unemployment duration also still stayed at historically high levels.

(Update: today new figures were released. The jobless rate remained under the 8 percent: 7,9 percent.)

Reuters