I recommend the article in today's Feb 3, 2010 Forbes, entitled America's Two Economies.
The authors compare several economic statistics across this recession and several previous recessions. Here is a sample chart from the article:
The authors argue that the "recovering"economy touted by the administration spin doctors, and the "real" economy are not the same, and that this recession is recovering much more slowly than previous recession, in spite of the stimulus packages (plural, because although they don't call recent spending a "second stimulus package", in effect it really is).