The number of Americans receiving unemployment compensation is just under 5 million. That's still a low percentage of the American workforce, but the number is very eye-catching. Think about it like this -- it's as if every man, woman and child in a metropolis were jobless!

The official word is that unemployment may rise to over 8%. But that's just the official number. We all know that it could go to 10% or 11%. Even so, this is not at a Great Depression level. During the Depression, about a full third of the workforce was jobless.

Yet Americans are certainly in fear mode. A new poll commissioned by the Associated Press finds that roughly half of us are worried that we will lose our jobs. This is a big change -- we used to only worry about unemployment hitting our neighbor, but never us.

Today we've absorbed so much negative info about the financial crisis of 2008-2009 that we're all feeling this sense of unease. This is a rational response, but it's not a logical one.

Unemployment is likely to ceiling out at about 12% in the worst scenario, according to Clark. It's not going to 20% or above, so don't psych yourself out too much. Certainly, we will have to pitch in and help each other. People may have to move in with a friend or relative during times of unemployment.