I'm On My High Horse Now!!
I think that 3-6 months' living expenses is a relic of recent good times' conventional wisdom. I'd advise anybody just getting their financial house in order now to have at least a year of living expenses, plus a few thousand extra to cover a big unexpected hit (like a medical expense, or car blowing up.*) IMHO we've got a lot more jobs to be lost, and therefore a lot less jobs to be available, so a big cushion is a must. If you've any credit card debt, get rid of it. Debt of any kind will be poison if the recession morphs into a full-blown depression.
*And not "minimum" living expenses; make an accounting of everything you need to get by during a typical month: rent/mortgage, all utilities, insurance, groceries, gas, auto maintenance, prescriptions, etc. If you do owe on a credit card debt and such, retire that debt now if possible.
**This should be in a savings account, CD, money-market fund or such. Liquid and accessible. A high interest rate is not important. It should not be in a stock and/or bond-owning mutual fund, a variable-life policy, or anything else tricky.