It's been one year since the crash of Lehman Brothers started a domino effect that nearly brought down the global financial system. Today we're seeing some stability on Wall Street but the nation's unemployment rate still hovers near double digits.

Former New York Governor Eliot Spitzer was once known as the "Sheriff of Wall Street." He joined John Roberts on CNN's "American Morning" Tuesday to talk about the current state of the financial system.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) - Reports of the stock rally's demise have been greatly exaggerated, with September so far managing to eschew a much-predicted selloff. A torrent of economic news this week could turn the tide.

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On the economic front, the consumer will remain front and center: Reports are due on inflation, retail sales, housing and jobless claims. These reports are key as investors look for signs that the consumer - hit by rising joblessness, lost wealth and tighter credit - is starting to recover.

Consumer spending fuels two-thirds of economic growth. Government stimulus and a period of inventory building are expected to help the economy for the next few quarters, but experts say the U.S. is at risk for a double-dip recession by this time next year if spending doesn't return.

"The week is likely to be a competition between better economic news for August and the start of the quarterly pre-announcement period," said John Canally, Economist at LPL Financial.

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It's Labor Day 2009, but it feels more like 1983. That's the last time such a large percentage of America's work force was unemployed.

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The nation's jobless rate of 9.7 percent is troubling enough but it dramatically understates the real depth of the problem. There are between 25 and 30 million people in this country who are ready, willing and able to work full-time, but can't find work.

Think of that – in the world's most powerful economy, the size of the out-of-work population is slightly more than that of New Jersey, South Carolina and Illinois combined.

Here's how it breaks down. There are 14.9 million classified as unemployed. Another 9.1 million are considered "under-employed" – meaning they want full-time work and are actively looking for it but have settled for part-time work instead.

Yet another 2.3 million are called "marginally attached" to the work force. They are ready and able to work and looked for a job sometime in the last year but stopped looking in the last four weeks. They are not counted in the nation's unemployment rate.

And of those "marginally attached," there are 758,000 "discouraged" workers, who have simply stopped looking for a job because they think there is no work for them.

Among those who are not counted: Stay-at-home moms who need to go back to work to feed their families. Discouraged workers who have struggled to find employment since the last recession ended in 2003. Those who have already retired, but have not worked in several years, and now must go back to work because their home values have dropped and their savings plans have taken a hit. Add up the uncounted and those who are counted, and that's 26.3 million workers.

Those are the faces not even counted in the unemployment rate. Within the jobless numbers, there are hundreds of thousands of new college graduates entering the job market for the very first time and entering it unemployed.

There are factory workers and roofers and retail clerks and bankers. There are small business owners who have held on through two grueling years but couldn't keep their businesses going any longer. There are music teachers and guidance counselors and school aides axed by school boards because budget cuts mean something has to give.

And the group with the highest percentage unemployed are teenagers. Teen unemployment now tops 25 percent, a record high.

It's a major political challenge for this White House.

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WASHINGTON (CNN) - Nearly 9 in 10 Americans say the country's still in a recession, according to a new national poll.

[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/US/09/03/economy.poll.recession/art.job.fair.generic.gi.jpg caption="Job fairs and tables full of applicants have become a familiar sight during the U.S. recession."]

Eighty-seven percent of people questioned in a CNN/Opinion Research Corporation survey released Thursday morning say the nation's in a serious, moderate or mild recession, and nearly 7 in 10 say things are going badly in the country today.

"Economists may be speculating that the recession is over, but don't tell that to the American public," says CNN Polling Director Keating Holland.

"The good news - if you can call it good news - is that the number who say things are going badly has been dropping steadily since last fall - from an all-time high of 83 percent in November to 77 percent in April and 69 percent now." Read the full poll results (PDF)

The survey also suggests another positive sign: The number of Americans who say the country's in a serious recession has also dropped a bit, from 42 percent in May to 36 percent.

And while the economy's still the top issue on the mind of Americans, the poll indicates it's dropping in importance. Forty-one percent of those questioned say the economy is the most important issue, down 10 points from June and a drop of 22 points from March.

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Grow your own. It seems everyone's doing it now. The number of fruit and vegetable gardens in the U.S. has exploded as Americans look to save money during the recession. CNN's Christine Romans takes a look at how gardening has become such a hot hobby.