Perhaps Gov. Gretchen Whitmer thought she could flip the economy back on as easily as she shut it down, but recent reports highlight that is not the case. It will take a long time for Michigan to fully recover from some of the nation’s strictest lockdown measures.
Many small businesses (and the jobs that come with them) are simply not coming back, especially those in the hospitality sector. Thousands of restaurants shuttered permanently in response to COVID restrictions. Take a stroll through most any Michigan city and once-vibrant downtowns are now littered with empty storefronts.
Michigan’s comeback is one of the most sluggish in the country, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
One review of the federal data from MLive shows that Michigan ranks 43rd worst in the country for its job recovery, with just 92.8% of the jobs it had in February 2020. And Michigan ranks last in the Midwest.
This echoes a June analysis from the Anderson Economic Group, which notes the Michigan labor market has struggled to recover and has a “long way to go.” It found that as of May, the state had 217,000 fewer workers and job seekers than it did in February 2020.
The labor force in Michigan has shrunk by 4.4%, which is much higher than the U.S. average of 2.1%. Nearby states such as Wisconsin and Indiana have either nearly or fully recovered their pre-COID labor forces.
“While other states have been recovering lost jobs and job seekers, the Michigan labor market has been stagnant,” said Brian Peterson, AEG’s director of public policy and economic analysis, in a statement.
Businesses that have survived are now dealing with other glaring problems, including a shortage of workers. The reason? Many of them can make more on unemployment.
Even though at least half the states have chosen to end the $300 weekly federal jobless benefits early, Michigan has not. Republican lawmakers tried to do this last month, but Whitmer slapped them down with a veto.
Her veto is further hampering the state’s recovery. In contract, the states recovering the fastest have all ended the federal unemployment boost to encourage people to get back to work.
Once again, it’s restaurants and hotels that are suffering the most.
A survey last week from the Michigan Restaurant & Lodging Association highlights these difficulties, more than a month after the end of Whitmer’s COVID mandates. The report found staffing shortages throughout the industry, including:
While Michigan has made progress in recent months, the economy here has more ground to make up than most other states. This reality, along with other policies that keep harming the recovery, must inform all future decisions related to the pandemic and shutdowns.
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She does not think of solutions for the people, only make believe solutions and propaganda the ” PARTY” relays to her for controlling the people.
The “Socialist Democrat Party State” political officers, Gestapo, Woke and Cancel Culture are just getting started.
You will obey, be loyal and support the “Socialist Democrat Party State” or you will be classified as
“Enemies of the State”.
Be careful what you vote for. Michigan voted for a corrupt Democrat Governor and that is what they got a self-righteous, dishonorable, dishonest, destructive, corrupt Democrat Governor.
I wonder, how many of those whining “we are barely surviving” VOTED FOR HER and sleepy joe!
This Jezebel has a serious problem.
“Many small businesses (and the jobs that come with them) are simply not coming back, especially those in the hospitality sector. Thousands of restaurants shuttered permanently in response to COVID restrictions. Take a stroll through most any Michigan city and once-vibrant downtowns are now littered with empty storefronts.”
She could pass for Joe Biden’s female counterpart. Incompetence is one thing, but when disaster is staring you right in the face and it is apparent what caused it—you oughta have a clue. Have the people who voted her in learned a lesson yet? I would hope so.
So, Dr Fauci, all you “experts”, Biden and company, CDC—this is a huge concern on our part—THIS is what worries us about all of the nonsense being pushed left and right regarding COVID restrictions. Try to wrap your head around it—it isn’t so difficult. We need to be able to live our lives.
The first three statements to be followed with Carl Sagan’s Baloney factor.
1. Wherever possible there must be independent confirmation of the “facts.”
2. Encourage substantive debate on the evidence by knowledgeable proponents of all points of view.
3. Arguments from authority carry little weight — “authorities” have made mistakes in the past. They will do so again in the future. Perhaps a better way to say it is that in science there are no authorities; at most, there are experts.
Look it up as it did not fit in here.
She, like her “president” boast job creation. You know—shut down a business and then let it re-open. That’s what they call “job creation”. Like throwing someone overboard and after pulling them out of the water claiming you “rescued them”. Heroes?