Four recession stories, graphed

Displaying data graphically is a way of telling a story.  The story you tell depends on which data you select, and how you present it.  As a result, a simple question like: "How do the job losses in the current US recession compare to previous recessions?" can become contentious, depending on which recessions you choose to compare it to, what time point you compare job losses to (what is "peak employment"?), and how you align the comparisons in time (when did each recession start?).

Flowing Data presents four different stories about the current recession, in graphical form.  Which one is correct?  It depends on the story you're trying to tell.