The Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis has posted an interesting interactive feature at its website, "The Recession and Recovery in Perspective," which allows visitors to visualize the length and depth of 11 postwar recessions in various ways. Here are two examples:

Despite continued speculation on Wall Street and elsewhere that economic recovery is upon us, these images sum up just how bad things have been during the current downturn.

Click here to explore the other options, including an ability to compare recessions by state.

(Hat tip to Zero Hedge.)