Michigan Unemployment Rate Tops 10.6 Percent, Expected To Keep Rising

[Purveyor]

Source: mLive.com

ETROIT -- Michigan's unemployment rate has hit double digits for the first time in nearly a quarter century.

The state's 10.6 percent unemployment rate in December was the steepest since December 1984 when 10.9 percent of the state's work force couldn't find jobs, the state Department of Energy, Labor and Economic Growth said Wednesday.

Put another way, slightly more than one out of 10 people in the state's labor force was out of work last month.

The U.S. unemployment rate last month was 7.2 percent.

Michigan last experienced double-digit joblessness in September 1985 when the unemployment rate hit 10 percent. The state was then emerging from the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression.

Read more: http://www.mlive.com/business/index.ssf/2009/01/michigan_unemployment_rate_top.html

[Demeter]

1. And That's After 94,000 Pulled Up Stakes and Left.

[Purveyor]

3. Indeed. U-haul and Ryder types truck/trailer leasing firms are offering deals

to anyone willing to bring their equipment back up north.

[sandnsea]

2. Oregon's hit 9%, highest in 23 years

And I can testify - there are NO jobs.

http://www.oregonlive.com/business/index.ssf/2009/01/oregon_jobless_rate_shoots_up.html

[MichiganVote]

4. These are the Dec. numbers...wait till January hits the .....

[blue_onyx]

11. January numbers will be horrible

Not just here in Michigan but nationally. It's seems like there has been a different company announcing layoffs everyday this month.

[MichiganVote]

17. what we want to watch is the south

[az chela]

5. My grandkids

live in Michigan .There are 5 of them and one father has a job and the other doesnt,how are they supposed to survive???

[TroubleMan]

6. That means in reality about only 1/3 of the people there have jobs.

They only use people who are still actively looking for jobs and reporting it as the unemployment numbers. They don't count people who've stopped looking for jobs, people who never reported it, or people who don't normally work (elderly, retired, disabled).

[llmart]

9. Also, there are many ......

people in their late 50's or 60 and though,on the surface it may look like they're "retired", it was involuntary. Many people got a lump sum payout that they'll have to live on, but the payments weren't really that large and that money doesn't last long when paying monthly bills. Yet they can't collect unemployment.

[groundloop]

7. Michigan last experienced double-digit joblessness in September 1985

when the unemployment rate hit 10 percent.


Gee, let's think back. There would have been a republican in the white house for over 4 years at that time. Coincidence???

[maddogesq]

10. I Remember it well. I just moved back here from Chicago.

I got a B.A. from Columbia College, Chicago in 6/85. I wondered why I was here then, as I do now. Then I hung in there, but things got better.

It's sad, in that I don't think our governor has failed--except the fact that she sometimes lets them beat her up too much without fighting back. In 1985, we had a Dem gov. too, but he balanced the budget and did lots of good stuff. This state is alway the recipient of right-wing shit dumps in economic terms, yet survives to keep some of the best state services in the land.

[blue_onyx]

13. MI has been ranked one of the most well run states

I think one survey gave MI a B+ rating. So you are right...it's amazing that Granholm has been able to keep our state services going in such troubled times. I do think, coming from a fairly unpolitical position (AG), that she wasn't as good at playing the game at first...but I think she's much better at fighting back now. I like that she's called Mike Bishop out of television multiple times, most recently in regards to the RPS. I wish she would point out that Michigan's economy went down the drain BEFORE she came into office and after more than a decade of complete Republican control. 12 years of Engler and 8 years of Bush has devastated our state.

Granholm has not failed and hopefully by the end of her term, people will see this. I believe the good news we have received in recent months, such as the car battery plants and the film studios, will put Michigan in a great position for the future. I really hope John Cherry can win in 2010 because I don't want to see a Republican in office when Michigan's economy turns around. I don't want the hard work Granholm put in to be credited toward the Republicans who did not nothing to improve our state.

[roamer65]

8. The U6 unemployment here in MI is probably around 17% and it will get much worse.

Ford, Chrysler and GM have much more to layoff.

[Faygo Kid]

12. That's my Home. I will return there. Please.

Like Michael Moore, and Mario Batali, and so many others, I pray to end up in northwest lower Michigan; for me, Traverse City. There is nowhere else I would rather be. I am in DC now. I pray that in another eight years, or less, I can be there. Please. Snow and all. If you have spent any time there, you know what I mean.

[Urban Prairie]

14. Yes, NW Lower Michigan

Is God's country with the shores of Lake Michigan and the smaller lakes, bays and rivers nearby, it has always been my heaven on earth. I feel very blessed to have spent my entire childhood summers in the 60s and 70s up there, and the city of Detroit for the rest. Best of both worlds back then. I have relatives living there year-round, hope to do so myself someday.

[PassingFair]

15. I spent every summer of my youth in Benzie County.

I crave a piece of Cherry Hut cherry pie right NOW!!

[shrike]

16. Yes, it is God's country.

Even in the central portion of the LP, the forests are beautiful.

I remember there was one area they used to call the Enchanted Forest. Nothing but birch trees, as far as you could see.