Roland: The alarming fact is that 90 percent of the people in this country now report that they know someone who is unemployed  Sharon: But a normal, moderate level of unemployment is 5 percent, with 1 out of 20 workers unemployed
So at any given time if a person knows approximately 50 workers, one or more will very likely be unemployed
The fact that 90% of the people know someone who is unemployed is not an indication that unemployment is abnormally high.