Those who are out of work will likely stay that way for a while because the economy at best will avoid drowning in depression and at best will end up taking a quick double-dip back into recession, says Nobel economist Paul Krugman.

"I don't think we're about to see Great Depression two. But I do think we are really looking at a long period of weak performance. There's a pretty good chance of a second leg to the recession, a double-dip," Krugman tells PBS NewsHour.

A double dip is when the economy falls into a recession, recovers for a bit and then dips back down into contraction again.

That could happen even if the country avoids an all-out meltdown, with sluggish growth the best-case scenario.

That means unemployment rates will hover around their current levels of 9.1 percent.

"There's a very good chance that unemployment is still going to be nine percent or higher a year from now, two years from now. So what we're seeing now is the — you know, is — I have been calling it the lesser depression, a really long period of really poor performance."

"If you're unemployed now, I really feel for you because your chance of getting reemployed is very low."

Krugman, famous for his liberal views, has criticized President Barack Obama for not fully adhering to progressive economic policies.

Obama, meanwhile, has said the country still remains a AAA country in his opinion.

"Markets will rise and fall, but this is the United States of America. No matter what some agency may say, we have always been and always will be a triple-A country," Obama says, according to Reuters.