Only 71.7% of working age adults (18-65) are employed in Michigan
Its true.
Yet some folks might not consider the actual ‘not employed’ number if going by articles which can be misread. Yesterday’s CapCon headline reads:
“Number of People Collecting Unemployment in Michigan Plummets Nearly 90 Percent“
“There are 314,000 fewer people taking unemployment benefits than in 2009”
And it really sounds amazing!
Curiously, the hockey stick statistic starts at a time in 2009, two years before former governor Jennifer Granholm left office. And Inquiring minds might want to know what happened in those two years; or perhaps the story of a comeback under ‘certain’ leadership might be altered? Capcon notes:
There were 363,212 people collecting unemployment as of Jan. 24, 2009. That number dropped to 49,060 as of June 20, 2015, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.
“Michigan’s growing economy is putting people back to work,” said James Hohman, the assistant director of fiscal policy at the Mackinac Center for Public Policy. “Fewer people on unemployment insurance is one of the added benefits.”
But it means little, if anything.
It is a disappointing attempt to demonstrate a strong economy without other supporting statistics. (‘Because we say Michigan has a growing economy, it must. And one indicator that is dependent on many things – we don’t talk about – quite obviously reinforces that fact.’) It leaves out other relevant information, that tells another story.
(22)Nuh Uh.
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