Michigan: Scroomed

Recently, I've heard some economic analysts refer to Michigan as a "leading indicator." If that's the case, God help us all.

Looking at the job outlook in various cities, Forbes reports that Detroit is the worst large city in America. No surprise there, but the "Warren-Troy-Farmington Hills, Michigan" metropolitan area comes in at number eight. The "small city" list is even worse, as Michigan boasts six of the top 10 cities, including the top-four:

1. Jackson, Michigan
2. Saginaw, Michigan
3. Flint, Michigan
4. Battle Creek, Michigan

8. Muskegon-Norton Shores, Michigan
9. Holland-Grand Haven, Michigan

The Battle Creek Enquirer tells us that:

At 11.8 percent unemployed -- up 0.6 percent from February -- Battle Creek fared better than most other metropolitan areas in Michigan, but still ranked among the worst cities in the nation to find a job.

A report published by Forbes.com on Tuesday named Battle Creek as the fourth worst small, U.S. city in which to find a job. Only Jackson, Saginaw and Flint were considered harder up for employment. Six of the 10 worst were in Michigan.

With an unemployment rate of 11.8%, the Cereal City fares better than most other metropolitan areas in Michigan? Makes sense when you consider that Ann Arbor is number five on the list of "medium cities." Thanks in part to the 85,000 college students in Washtenaw county, the Ann Arbor metropolitan area boasts the lowest official unemployment rate in the entire state. That's right: if you're looking for work, the fifth worst medium-sized city in the entire country is the city with Michigan's lowest unemployment rate.

And all of this was before Chrysler filed bankruptcy.

If you're looking for signs of Situation-X, go visit Detroit, Battle Creek, Jackson, Saginaw, Ypsilanti, or Flint.

Source: Worst Cities for Jobs

[edit on 1-5-2009 by theWCH]

I live out side of Port Huron Michigan.
The population is aprox. 8,500
Jobs in the local paper(Times Herald) 2 listings only.
Under EMPLOYMENT in classifieds :

#1-Used Vehicle Sales Professional wanted
#2- Rental Business: help for cleaning..etc.

Under LEGALS
40 seperate Notice of Mortgage Forclosures/sale

You got that right, I'm currently in the Muskegon area of West Michigan. Recently back home from doing my time in the service. Since finding a job is out of the question, going to create it and finish my bachelors in criminal justice cyber security, I'll start on a masters but during that time I'll have built my own security company.

Hasn't been good employment here in over six years, and it goes to show what happens when companies get too big for their breeches. More over sight and support of the automotive industry here in the Motor Capitol would have gone a long ways towards preventing this occurrence.

How ever if your looking for employment, check out michiganworks.org they have a great resource for job searching and fee resume services.

Star and Flag 4 U !

I'm number 1...I'm number 1...

Jackson checking in here...

Yep number 1 in about every bad statistic ever created...

13.6% Unemployment last I saw...soon to be 20%+ after all the car company's go under...

The first car built in Michigan was the Jaxon 1903...

Used to have Kelsey-Hayes...Yardman...Clark Equipment...Good Year...Lite Metal Diecast...a lot of big auto 3rd party shops...

Used to have the largest R-R yard in the mid/north east...

Now a bunch of Mickey D's and closed Hot-n-Nows...

Misleading title, but: Michigan residents selling body parts to make ends meat.

Fetzner is among those realizing that, in these tough times, the body isn't just a temple. It can be a gold mine.

As Michigan's economy continues to suffer, people are offering themselves up as medical guinea pigs for a quick buck to make ends meet. Some are selling plasma, others their hair for hundreds on the Internet, while others take the more extreme road by wanting to sell their eggs or participate in medical studies in exchange for payment and free medical exams.
Web site facilitates sales

"Necessity is the mother of invention," said Charles Ballard, economics professor at Michigan State University. "People can get really creative if they're pushed to the limit. Even a few hundred to scrape together might make a difference."

I'm in Battle Creek, visiting family, and there are already half-vacant strip malls in the "good" parts of town.

So far I've managed to maintain a job in city #3 (Flint) after leaving my job in city #1 (Jackson). times are definitely tough in Michigan, but they have been for quite a while now. The running joke among my friends and family is that the US economy is finally catching up to Michigan's. One thing that might have helped is if more companies, the state govt., etc.. had realized that the auto industry could not always be the state's major economic standpoint and had started some sort of economic transition when this was evident several years ago...perhaps some incentives for tech companies, research companies, etc...oh well, just tough it out and live on I suppose.