Wednesday, September 8, 2010

Labor Day 2010: Too Many Unemployed (Especially People of Color) and Too Many Others Working for Meager Wages

An editorial column from the Benton Harbor Herald Palladium:

Recently, I read some good economic news. For the month of July, Michigan led the nation in job creation. Nearly 27,000 jobs were created in our state, with many of them in manufacturing, which has suffered inordinate job loss over a decade. Michigan has been in recession for most of the 21st century.

One month of modest employment gains is not a trend. Still, isn't it great to read that Michigan lead the nation in job growth, even if only for one month? Let's hope it is the beginning of Michigan's turnaround. Many of our neighbors are still hurting.

In their annual Labor Day report, the Michigan League for Human Services lists a litany of Michigan's economic woes:


The unemployment rate in Michigan has been near 13 or 14 percent during all of 2009-2010. The last time that unemployment was higher in Michigan was in 1983-1984. Those years weren't much fun in our state, even if the Detroit Tigers won the World Series and Cyndi Lauper sang to us that "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun." (For the record, I moved to Virginia from 1983-1985 partially because of the dearth of Michigan jobs.)

heraldpalladium.com/articles/2010/09/08/opinion/editorials/1885171.txt

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