Michigan Governor Whitmer’s 2023 Budget Focuses on Education, Infrastructure, Economic Development

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer pitched a $74.1 billion budget that would increase state spending by $4.1 billion over the prior year.

Sen. Jim Stamas, R-Midland, said Michigan’s 2009 budget was $48 billion and has grown in 13 years by $26.1 billion.

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Michigan House Passes Economic Development Incentive Package

After Michigan lost out on an $11.4 billion electric vehicle factory estimated to create 11,000 jobs, the GOP-led House passed a trio of economic development bills on a 83-21 vote.

But 16 Republicans and five Democrats voted against the package, saying it amounts to a government entity picking winners and losers, redistributing wealth, and inviting collusion between lawmakers and companies while spending taxpayer dollars on large private companies that could be spent helping all Michiganders.

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Michigan Unemployment Claims Continue to Decline Despite Lockdown Measures

Michigan’s new unemployment claims dropped last week by 5,855 from the week ending Dec. 5, according to Department of Labor statistics released Thursday morning.

Unemployment claims in the state continue to drop despite the ongoing prohibitions of indoor gatherings imposed by the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services to curtail the spread of the COVID-19 virus.

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U.S. Department of Interior Efforts Added $1.1 Billion to Michigan’s Economic Output in 2019

U.S. Department of Interior (DOI) activities supported a total of 7,590 jobs, $645 million in value added and $1.1 billion in economic output in Michigan in 2019.

That’s according to a DOI report issued Monday. The DOI’s Economic Report for Fiscal Year 2019 measures the department’s economic contributions through its management of federal lands and waters as well as investments in conservation and natural landscapes efforts as well as contributions to preserve the nation’s cultural heritage.

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Michigan Unemployment Drops 97,000 to Fall Beneath 500,000

 New unemployment claims in Michigan reported for the week ending August 1 continue to dip slightly under the previous week’s numbers.

According to data compiled by the U.S. Department of Labor, Michigan registered 17, 029 new unemployment claims for the week ending August 1, a drop of 6,901 new claims for the week ending July 25, during which the state added 23,219 new claims.

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Michigan Unemployment Fell Slightly Last Week, Still Hovers Near 575,000 Claims

Unemployment line

Although new claims dropped slightly from the previous week, Michigan’s unemployment reversed its downward trajectory in the weeks ending July 11 and July 18.

New claims fell by 2,647 during the last full week of July, from 24,596 the week prior to 21,949 the week ending July 25. That gain was offset by an increase of 54,440 new claims since July 11.

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New Claims Drop but Michigan Unemployment Still Above 500,000

Michigan was in the top 5 U.S. states reporting the largest decreases in initial unemployment claims for the week ending July 11.

The state reported a 6,882 week-over-week decline in new claims for that week. New claims in Michigan dropped by another 5,884 claims the week ending July 18.

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Michigan Unemployment in June Falls 6.5 Percent Since May, Still Above ‘Great Recession’ Levels

Michigan unemployment climbed by 24,000 new claims last week, bringing the state’s total number of unemployment claims to 555,162.

However, the week-over-week tally fell by 9,705 new claims from 34,602 new claims in the week ending July 4 to 24,897 new claims in the week ending July 11, according to U.S. Department of Labor data. Those numbers are still above unemployment levels recorded at the height of the Great Recession of 2009.

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Michigan’s New Unemployment Claims Continue to Tick Downward

Michigan residents filed 19,552 new unemployment claims during the week ending June 13, down 8,284 new claims from the prior week. The total number of unemployed Michigan residents is 726,513.

The downward trend of new claims in the state continues unabated. Michigan ranked fourth in the nation in largest decreases of new unemployment claims in the week ending June 6.

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Michigan Unemployment Claims Continue Upward Trend

More than 28,500 Michigan workers joined the ranks of the unemployed in the week ending June 6, bringing the total number of state residents filing unemployment claims to 870,772 since restrictions were put in place to slow the spread of COVID-19.

Michigan unemployment claims are among the highest in the nation.

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Despite Drop in New Claims, Michigan Unemployment Ninth Highest in Nation

As Gov. Gretchen Whitmer allows more sectors of the economy to open, Michigan unemployment claims dropped to 956,418 in the week ending May 30, compared to 985,294 claims the prior week ending May 23.

Those numbers are the lowest unemployment figures in Michigan since the beginning of measures to contain the coronavirus were initiated in late March.

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Michigan Adds Another 57,714 Unemployed Last Week

Michigan’s unemployment still hovers near 1.5 million claims, according to U.S. Department of Labor numbers released Thursday morning.

Michigan’s unemployment level is slightly under 23 percent, more than a 400 percent increase since the beginning of measures implemented by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer to curtail the spread of COVID-19 in late March.

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