Here are statistics for the post-World War II recoveries.

Job gains for first 23 months of recovery:

June 2009 - May 2011: 550,000 jobs gained; 0.42 percent increase
Nov. 2001 - Oct. 2003: 773,000 jobs lost; 0.59 percent decrease
Mar. 1991 - Feb. 1993: 1,432,000 jobs gained; 1.3 percent increase
Nov. 1982 - Oct. 1984: 6,841,000 jobs gained; 7.7 percent increase
Jul. 1980 - June 1982: 21,000 jobs gained; 0.02 percent increase
Mar. 1975 - Feb. 1977: 4,338,000 jobs gained; 5.7 percent increase
Nov. 1970 - Oct. 1972: 4,263,000 jobs gained; 6.1 percent increase
Feb. 1961 - Jan. 1963: 2,560,000 jobs gained; 4.8 percent increase
Apr. 1958 - Mar. 1960: 3,432,000 jobs gained; 6.7 percent increase
May 1954 - Apr. 1956: 3,410,000 jobs gained; 7.0 percent increase
Oct. 1949 - Sep. 1951: 5,005,000 jobs gained; 11.7 percent increase
Oct. 1945 - Sep. 1947: 5,603,000 jobs gained; 14.5 percent increase

Decline in unemployment rate for first 23 months of recovery:

June 2009 - May 2011: decline of 0.4 percentage points
Nov. 2001 - Oct. 2003: increase of 0.5 percentage points
Mar. 1991 - Feb. 1993: increase of 0.3 percentage points
Nov. 1982 - Oct. 1984: decline of 3.4 percentage points
Jul. 1980 - June 1982: increase of 1.8 percentage points
Mar. 1975 - Feb. 1977: decline of 1.0 percentage points
Nov. 1970 - Oct. 1972: decline of 0.3 percentage points
Feb. 1961 - Jan. 1963: decline of 1.2 percentage points
Apr. 1958 - Mar. 1960: decline of 2.0 percentage points
May 1954 - Apr. 1956: decline of 1.9 percentage points
Oct. 1949 - Sep. 1951: decline of 4.6 percentage points