The Bureau of Labor Statistics announced this morning that the unemployment rate has risen to 9.4 percent, up half-a-percent from last month. The BLS also stated in its monthly report that the number of unemployed persons increased by 787,000, to a total of 14.5 million.

"Since the start of the recession in December 2007, the number of unemployed persons has risen by 7.0 million, and the unemployment rate has grown by 4.5 percentage points," the report states.

Congress's Joint Economic Committee will meet this morning at 9:30 a.m., as it does every month, to discuss the new numbers.