Posted on 11/22/2008 7:53:40 PM PST by mathwhizz
“You just sit and you worry,” said Pat Weber, a construction administrator in Fennville who was laid off more than a year ago. “In the last year, I’ve put in for more than 100 jobs. I stopped counting after 110. It’s just so defeating.”
All around Fennville and its neighbors here in southwest Michigan, front lawns are peppered with for-sale signs and merchants complain about slow days. But while this remains a beautiful place with none of the obvious blight of Detroit on the other side of the state, residents say the hardship beneath the surface is very real.
It is the same story in other parts of Michigan, as the state’s already entrenched recession — in at least its fifth year, according to economic experts — digs deeper as a result of the recent global financial crisis.
New data show the state’s unemployment rate crept up to 9.3 percent, almost three times what it was in 2000, and, along with Rhode Island, the highest in the country. Just last week, Herman Miller Inc., an office furniture company based in Zeeland, Mich., announced that it would eliminate or lay off 400 to 650 workers, many of them in western Michigan. SKD Automotive, an auto parts manufacturer in Jonesville, Mich., where it is the largest employer, indicated it would eliminate 300 jobs.
As a result of the steady job losses that began in the summer of 2000, 1.82 million Michigan residents, or close to 20 percent of the population, are now on some form of public assistance, including food stamps and home heating credits, a record for the state.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
All the libtard states have the highest unemployment rates. MI, RI, CA and soon NY. Socialism, illegals, regulation, unions, welfare and on and on.
the Western part of MI is like a different world. Grand Rapids is the only place i have ever been to and the people are great.
I’m not too far from being in the same situation. Lucky my wife has a good stable job. But my on/off work status is getting shaky with the peace at home
And the alternative is? The state is in its 5th year of recession. Should you stay where you are, getting more dejected and depressed each day that goes by, without any light at the end of the tunnel?
I’ve done it myself. Due to circumstances beyond our control, my husband and I worked in two different states for a while. It may not work for all, but for many where there’s a will, there’s a way.
I would but my parents are here and I need to be close to them.
And that’s very understandable. I don’t think it would work for everyone.
Oh madison10, think back to the dustbowl.
People loaded what they could into their jalopies, and headed west. They didn’t call moving vans, wait for gubmint handouts, or unemployment checks to arrive.
They did what they had to do to survive.
I join you in not wishing this on anyone. But, when it is a matter of survival, you do what you have to do, and you don’t whine about it. This is particularly important if you have children, for they need a good example of how to act in a crisis.
Dude! Fricking move for Pete's sake! If WI passes universal healthcare, I'm outta here. It's going to cost the state $15 billion and we already have a $5.4 billion-dollar deficit.
Take them with you. The ship is sinking.
One way to do it is the husband goes to another state where the job is at, and rents, and sends the check home to family. Once husband is settled in with his new job, sell his old home and moves family to new state. This process may take one to three years but atleast he will move out of MI. That is how some immigrants did it long long time ago.
No, no. It’s the unions fault. It’s always the unions fault don’t ya know! ;)
After Katrina completely destroyed my business in Biloxi, I loaded up my 1984 Mercedes and headed for D/FW with a tiny bit of assistance from the Feds. Been fine since then.
I live in a county in Illinois (DuPage County) that USED to be conservative. I was absolutely SHOCKED to learn 54% of this county voted for Obombination!
In my opinion our reaction should be one of the following, depending on how Pat typically votes:
1. If Pat votes Republican, we should offer condolences and gently submit that he should move south to a "red" state that is far more likely to offer job opportunities than Michigan can hope to offer for the foreseeable future.
2. If Pat votes Democrat, we should laugh our rear-ends off mercilessly and tell him to drop dead and to stay right in Michigan where he belongs, and please don't go to another state where you would bring along your suicidal voting habits.
It would be nice if articles like this one included pertinent information like how the quoted "victims" vote.
Thank you very much for the info.
Could you please tell me What sort of companies and What sort of jobs?
I work for Chrysler - Union Electronics Test Technician at the Chrysler Tech Center in Auburn Hills, Michigan. I am 53 and have been here for 25 years. Would be very interested in moving for work.
(I didn't vote Democrat and although I have 25 years seniority I do believe that if they are paying you then you should put in an honest day's work, so don't worry about me carrying any socialist attitudes or politics over there...)
Much of my father’s family left Michigan and went to Texas in the early 80’s at the tail end of the last recession. They never looked back....
I’ve heard that there are more Fortune 500 headquarters in D/FW than any other metroplex, as well as many medium and small businesses. Take a look on these sites to begin:
Monster
http://www.monster.com/
Indeed
http://websearch.about.com/od/enginesanddirectories/a/indeed.htm
Fed World (Federal jobs)
http://www.fedworld.gov/
Career Builder
http://www.careerpath.com/Default.aspx?cbRecursionCnt=1&cbsid=60ec530766044bab83a7957a3eadb34c-184685787-wn-2
Dice (High Tech Jobs)
http://www.dice.com/
America’s Job Bank
http://www.jobsearch.org/
Yahoo’s Hot Jobs
http://hotjobs.yahoo.com/
Simply Hired
http://www.simplyhired.com/
Linked In
https://www.linkedin.com/
Craig’s List
http://dallas.craigslist.org/jjj/
Good luck, and FReepmail me if you have any questions...
UPS always hiring before Christmas...after sign on for unemployment benes
She actually is teh Depression Czar, along with David Bonior.
Can you imagine two worse people to head your economic policy development team to them?
It is very discouraging to be surrounded by such idiocy. Dems won big in most races, so things will only continue to get worse. Depending on what the Obamanation does to the military, we may have to leave. Lived here all my life, but you gotta feed your family.
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