Shocking: Americans on the Brink as Jobless Benefits Wind Down

This is a must-read from the Huffingtonpost: New Figures Detail Depth Of Unemployment Misery, Lower Earnings For All But Super Wealthy

One out of every 34 Americans who earned wages in 2008 earned absolutely nothing -- not one cent -- in 2009.

The stunning figure was released earlier this month by the Social Security Administration, but apparently went unreported until it appeared today on Tax.com in a column by Pulitzer Prize-winning tax reporter David Cay Johnston.

It's not just every 34th earner whose financial situation has been upended by the financial crisis. Average wages, median wages, and total wages have all declined -- except at the very top, where they leaped dramatically, increasing five-fold.

Johnston writes that while the number of Americans earning more than $50 million fell from 131 in 2008 to 74 in 2009, those that remained at the top increased their income from an average of $91.2 million in 2008 to almost $519 million.

It's scary stuff, and the article features a must-watch embedded video from 60 Minutes on "the 99ers" -- those who have reached the 99th week of their unemployment benefits, which are now coming to an end.

Please take the time to read the article and check out the video.