With west Michigan manufacturing giant Herman Miller now expected to post eight-figure losses this quarter and 6,000 additional GM workers losing their jobs via a new "buyout" effort, we're a good stretch from the bottom yet, too.

Somebody get on the phone and tell the number thirteen we're on our way... because we just arrived at the number twelve's house and he hasn't got nearly enough space.

That's right.  Twelve percent.  12.  Doce in Spanish and twaalf in Dutch.  

According to the Detroit News:

"This would be the highest rate the state's had since January 1984, when the rate was 12.1 percent," said Bruce Weaver, an economic analyst with the state.

Dana Johnson, chief economist for Comerica Bank, called the jobless figure released Wednesday "grim, quite simply."

We have the highest unemployment rate now in Michigan in 25 years, roughly 4 percentage points above the national average," he said.

The national rate for February was a (relatively) paltry 8.1 percent.  And here in Michigan back in February of 2008?  We were only at 7.6 percent.  Yeah, sure, 7.6 was the worst in the nation then the same way 12 is the worst in the nation now, but ouch.

The News crunched the numbers and they show a 58 percent rise in the number of jobless  Michiganders in the last YEAR of the Granholm - Cherry administration alone.  29,000 fewer jobs in this state in the last month alone.  

How about that leadership!

Meanwhile, the Associated Press continues carrying the Governor's water via a new "analysis" piece that sounds the alarm about how similar the current budget climate in Lansing feels to the climate that produced a government shutdown and a record-shattering $1.5 billion Democratic tax hike in 2007.

Yeah, fine, sure, the AP can't be bothered to mention the biggest tax hike in the history of the state anywhere in the piece and pretends a few hours with the lights out was all that came of the budgetary stalemate, but that's not even the worst of their omissions.

Read on...