Detroit Facing 50% Unemployment Rate

POLITICS

» by Jordan C. Alston December 18, 2009, 9:15am

As a city that has been under bankruptcy watch for quite some time now, denizens of Detroit were hardly shocked when news broke that their once glorious city currently embroiled in fiscal crisis is on the cusp of becoming a city entrenched in a battle for jobs.

Official records show that the Motor City has an unemployment rate of a little less than 30%, but local officials have are toting a more gloomy figure, saying that the actual unemployment figure puts jobless rates around 50%!

Information utilized by the Bureau of Labor Statistics only makes note of anyone that was recently left off; it does not use information on those that have quit job searching, part-time employees seeking full time jobs, or anyone that is underemployed.

“The Bureau of Labor Statistics estimated that for the year that ended in September, Michigan's official unemployment rate was 12.6 percent. Using the broadest definition of unemployment, the state unemployment rate was 20.9 percent, or 66 percent higher than the official rate. Since Detroit's official rate for October was 27 percent, that broader rate pushes the city's rate to as high as 44.8 percent.” -Detroit Free Press

Statewide, Michigan leads the nation as the state with the highest rate of joblessness and job loss, with Detroit serving as the city with the highest percentage increase (7.3) of any metropolitan area in the nation.

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