Unemployment rose to 9.5 percent last month, the highest level in 26 years. Meanwhile, Wall Street payouts are not dropping. Goldman Sachs will be shelling out a whopping $20 billion to its employees this year. As we enter the 20th month of this recession, unemployment is becoming a way of life for many, and the very same people who created this mess are still reaping the profits.

Just as the Labor Day weekend arrives comes word that the U.S. economy shed another 216,000 jobs last month, pushing the unemployment rate up to a 26-year high of 9.7 percent.

After years of being denied entry by the Bush administration, a special rapporteur for the U.N. has finally completed a tour of housing in the U.S. and the diagnosis isn’t good. The special investigator accused the government of ignoring the “invisible” problem of homelessness while shelling out billions to banks.