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The latest BusinessWeek had an interesting article, full of stats, How Bad Is It? It turns out things are really bad. (The bolded date means “worse since.”)

International travel fell 2.9% year over year in September, the worst drop since the SARS scare in August 2003.

Chief Executive magazine’s CEO Confidence Index stood at 58.2, the lowest since the survey began in 2002.

Corporatejet takeoffs and landings in October were down 19% from last year, thelargest drop since the FAA started collecting such data in 2001.

The S&P 500 index dropped to 752 on Nov. 20, the worst close since it hit 744 in 1997.

The unemployment rate rose to 6.5% in October, its highest since March 1994.

Citibank announced layoffs of 53,000 on Nov. 17, the most pink slips since IBM’s announcement of 60,000 jobs cuts in 1993.

New jobless claims hit a seasonally adjusted 542,000 for the week of Nov. 15, the highest weekly level since 1992.

Retail sales were off 2.8% in October from September, the worst drop since current counting methods began in 1992.

TheHome Builder Confidence Index plummeted to 9 for the month of October(a rating of 50 means half those surveyed say the outlook is good), thelowest since the index was created in 1985.

Auto sales declined 32% year over year in October, the worst drop since 1983.

Core consumer prices (excluding food and energy) were down 0.1% in October from September, the first dip since 1982.

The Consumer Confidence Index hit 38 in October, the lowest since its creation in 1967.

Monthlyhousing starts fell 4.5% in October, to a seasonally adjusted annualrate of 791,000, the lowest since record-keeping began in 1947.

GM stock dropped to $1.72 on Nov. 19, its lowest since 1938.

The Dow tumbled 47% on Nov. 20 from an October 2007 peak, the worst drop since it fell 49% from 1937 to 1938.

Reference
How bad is it?, BusinessWeek