[Indentured Servant]

Does not really matter. In a decade or more thousands of people and businesses will be moving to the state due to a fresh water crisis globally.

[magellan]

Originally Posted by mewith3

SOme of the info is here

Regional and State Employment and Unemployment Summary

and here

ETA Press Release: Unemployment Insurance Weekly Claims Report (http://www.dol.gov/opa/media/press/eta/ui/current.htm - broken link)

Those two reports don't dispute anything I said, and don't corroborate anything you said. In fact, they reinforce my claim that much of the country is getting worse, while Michigan is improving.

Originally Posted by mewith3

and here: Michigan's population loss surprising only because more people didn't leave state - AnnArbor.com

which states Michigan is becoming a older and more poor population

That's an opinion piece by Rick Haglund (it even says Opinion). Not any different from anyone else's opinion. He mentions per capita income is down, but much of that is because of the loss of hundreds of thousands of mainly union manufacturing jobs, which I'm guessing that most people here thought those people were overpaid anyway. You can't complain that a certain group is overpaid, and then be upset and surprised when you get what you wish for. But he also mentions that perhaps a smaller population is not a bad thing, which is what some of us are also claiming.

Originally Posted by mewith3

and this article:
People leaving Great Lakes Bay Region's work force results in lower unemployment rates in November | MLive.com

which states why the rates are changng over the last 2 years

Just the facts as released by the agencies that track them

No, that's one media outlet's take on the situation. Yes, it's correct that some of the Bay area's unemployment rate change is due to a drop in the labor force by 1200, but only partially. They neglect to even mention in the article that the employment level increased about 700 from Nov 09 to Nov. '10. Why is that?

Read the reports yourself, they're not that complicated to figure out. You don't need a reporter with little to no business training to tell you what they mean.

[magellan]

Originally Posted by michigan83

Rick Snyder says we need to be more optimistic. Do you want to mess with Rick Snyder??...

I didn't think so.

No kidding. God forbid anyone be positive about something in Michigan. Eesh.

[michigan83]

No kidding. God forbid anyone be positive about something in Michigan. Eesh.

During the recession, I think a lot of people have made a hobby out of being negative about Michigan. Even if they haven't been affected by it directly, it gives people something to talk about, kind of like the weather or sports. Some people honestly enjoy complaining. If things turn around, they will probably find something else to complain about.

[Cliffie]

Someone really needs to figure out a way to count EVERYONE who works, wants to work, along with EVERYONE who doesn't or can't. A guy on disability for MR in a supported part-time job is working, but he doesn't get counted under our current system, and neither does someone making 150K selling rare marbles and homemade cat food on eBay. I think we have no really good way of knowing where we stand.

Only counting unemployment claims also underlines people's sense of helplessness and being at the mercy of big corporations, as if the Big Three really were the be-all and end-all of employment in this state. There's no point in demoralizing people further.

[actinic]

No one is claiming the unemployment figures are perfect but at least these imperfect measures are applied uniformly among states. This at least gives us a relative feel of how we're doing vs others.

U-6 is more encompassing and at least hints at the 'quality' of the employment figures and clues to possible future direction. I think the BLS has them somewhere.

[magellan]

Originally Posted by actinic

No one is claiming the unemployment figures are perfect but at least these imperfect measures are applied uniformly among states. This at least gives us a relative feel of how we're doing vs others.

U-6 is more encompassing and at least hints at the 'quality' of the employment figures and clues to possible future direction. I think the BLS has them somewhere.

Agreed. And starting in February, BLS is going to start counting 1099's in the employment/unemployment figures, and phase them in over 3 or 4 months.

[pifler]

Michigan is doing quite good with its lies.I am pretty sure that unemployment in Michigan is at least 35%-40%.People are getting by here with crumbs.

[magellan]

Originally Posted by pifler

Michigan is doing quite good with its lies.I am pretty sure that unemployment in Michigan is at least 35%-40%.People are getting by here with crumbs.

Is there a point to all of your posts pifler? Or are you just spitballing?

[Jwo85]

My cousin is no longer unemployed. Starts at his new factory job tomorrow. He used to work at a different factory a few years ago until they shut down and moved to Mexico.