The latest economic numbers look promising for the State of Michigan. The unemployment rate dropped to 3.8 percent, which brings it to the lowest levels since the 1970s. Also, the labor force participation rate is at the highest it’s been in three years.
The state’s labor force saw an uptick of 18,000 jobs, and year over year the economy brought in 61,000 jobs.
So, exactly how is state government managing the growth of the economy post the COVID-19 pandemic? And, how does it impact Black people?
“We have seen historically for as long as unemployment numbers have been counted that Black unemployment has been significantly higher than white unemployment,” said Lieutenant Governor Garlin Gilchrist. “For us to be nearing parody in the way we are right now is progress and I think that is a testament to us being focused on this issue and creating jobs.”
Lt. Gov. Gilchrist says the state continues to announce new job creation every week in all communities across the state.
“General Motors just announced a one-billion-plus dollar investment in Flint and there’s going to be a lot of Black folks that’re going to be able to get those jobs because of the expansions of those facilities, and we want to continue that progress.”
Gilchrist said leadership in state government also wants to create opportunity for people entering the workforce and for people who are looking for work which “matches their skillset, matches their experience, matches their ambition.”
This type of economic focus, he says, will be better for Black people across the state and help rejuvenate Michigan’s economy overall.
The State of Michigan is also encouraging Michiganders to start new small businesses, a record number of whom are doing so, continuing to push the economic drive of the state, and entrepreneurship is helping in this effort.
“Entrepreneurs, some of them are going to create the companies for jobs of today and tomorrow that will hire more Michiganders,” Gilchrist said. “We are working to make every path available and viable. Starting with college affordability with the Michigan Achievement Scholarship. We also created the Michigan Reconnect program to get more people associate degrees and professional training and certification.”
The Michigan Reconnect program is available for free to people over 25 and there is an effort to increase the eligibility of more than 300,000 people to be a part of the program by making the qualifying age be available to anyone over the age of 21.
“We’re all about giving people the skills they need to be qualified for jobs or to start their own enterprise and then making sure they have enough money in their pockets to be successful. Those programs, I think, are disproportionately impacting Black Michiganders who have been designed out of those opportunities in the past,” Gilchrist added.
Since the mid-1970s, the unemployment rate only fell below 4.0 percent during three time scopes and that was from 1998-2000, from November 2019 to March 2020 and now.
In April, Michigan had a total labor force of 4,869,000. This was an increase of 18,000 over the month and 26,000 over the previous year. Michigan recorded 4,420,000 payroll jobs in April, an increase of 5,000 jobs over March and an increase of 61,000 jobs over the year.
Michigan’s labor force participation rate climbed to 60.2 percent this month, the highest rate since September 2020.
“This year, with a productive majority in Lansing, we have brought thousands of good-paying American manufacturing jobs home, cut taxes by $1 billion for seniors and working families and powered economic development in every region with business expansions, housing investments and community revitalization projects,” said Gilchrist.
“Let’s build on our growth in the months ahead to deliver another balanced budget that makes a real difference in people’s lives and lowers costs.”
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