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High Jobless Rates in Michigan Cities Force Exodus
Michigan Messenger ^ | 10/23/09 | By MINEHAHA FORMAN

Posted on 10/24/2009 6:30:01 PM PDT by Son House

The September unemployment stats for Michigan came out this week and they are high — as expected.

Mlive.com highlighted the statistics on a municipal level, showing the five cities with the highest jobless rates are all over 25 percent. The cities of Highland Park and Pontiac, which leaned heavily on auto-related employment, had the highest unemployment with 35.2 percent of residents reportedly jobless. Both cities have declared bankruptcy in the recent past. Highland Park recently emerged from state receivership and Pontiac just slipped under state control last year.

While the overall state’s unemployment rate is the highest in the nation at 15.3 percent, the top five hardest hit cities in the state are all former automobile production hubs.

According to Mlive.com:

1.Highland Park 35.2% 1. Pontiac 35.2% 3. Detroit 27.9% 4. Flint 26.3% 5. Port Huron 25.7%

What do these statistics mean for residents in these cities? Many are packing up and heading out of state to find work, like one Detroiter who went as far as creating a website and a PayPal account seeking donations to help him leave the city.

The former Detroiter wrote on his “Help me leave Detroit” page, which features photos of crime and drug houses in his neighborhood:

“I live in Detroit. I am a skilled pipefitter, yet I am unemployed. Detroit’s unemployment rate is at a record 28.7 percent. 1/3 of Detroiters live at or below the poverty line. Crime is rampant. My house has been burglarized 9 times. My car window was bust by a thief who I caught breaking into the house down the street.

The blogging plumber is not alone. In April the Detroit News reported that every 12 minutes Michigan loses a family seeking work. The article noted that approximately 109,000 more people left Michigan in 2008 than moved in.

This state exodus is not helping the situation any. Detroit News’ Ron French writes:

“The families who are leaving — young, well-educated high-income earners — are the people the state desperately needs to rebuild.


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Crime/Corruption; Front Page News; News/Current Events; US: Michigan
KEYWORDS: bluestates; exodus; force; jobless; michigan
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To: Son House

Heard a stat the other day that MI has 645,000 state employees...vs. approx. 500,000 manufacturing jobs remaining. I was astounded by the 645K number...absolutely astounded.


61 posted on 10/24/2009 9:59:54 PM PDT by nfldgirl
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To: Son House

This is Jennifer Granholm’s Socialist Paradise. What say she is forced to live in one of these hellholes she did so much to create?


62 posted on 10/24/2009 10:09:45 PM PDT by Post Toasties (Conservatives allow the guilty to be executed but Lefties insist that the innocent be executed.)
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To: Son House

Not to mention the higher cost in taxes to house all the prisoners, and of course when programs have to be slashed to pay for the stimulus, law enforcement will be the first to go with Obama at the helm (they act “stupidly”, after all, right?)

Rough waters ahead.


63 posted on 10/24/2009 10:20:15 PM PDT by Soothesayer9
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To: Son House
"1.Highland Park 35.2% 1. Pontiac 35.2% 3. Detroit 27.9% 4. Flint 26.3% 5. Port Huron 25.7% "

And they will keep voting for Democrats, bigger government, and higher taxes. Idiots.

64 posted on 10/24/2009 11:35:32 PM PDT by avacado
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To: rodguy911

“As a former Detroiter (52 years) I really understand your plight. When we finally decided to leave was when we opened the front door of our house to see a young man brandishing a weapon at his friends on our front lawn. That did it for me. Good Luck in California and I hope that you become the best EMT / RN that you can. You are in my prayers.”

http://www.helpmeleavedetroit.com/


65 posted on 10/24/2009 11:35:35 PM PDT by Fred Nerks (fair dinkum)
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To: Repeal The 17th
I wonder if the 2010 census will result in Michigan losing some House seats...

The libs had the fix with ACORN (now COI) running the census. They might have a "Plan B."

Regardless, Detroit traditionally has a voter turn out in excess of 100%. They're very civic minded.

66 posted on 10/24/2009 11:41:22 PM PDT by Grizzled Bear ("Does not play well with others.")
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To: MovementConservative
"...don’t let that element out of there."

And therein lies the problem. Sooner or later (I'm predicting some time after year's end) that "element" won't want to stay there. Unemployment benefits will run out, and with "mmm, mmm, mmm" doing everything humanly possible to sabotage the ability of the private sector to create jobs they will reach a breaking point.

Cops can only do so much. Which is why I plan to see "the element" coming, so I can prepare a defense...
67 posted on 10/24/2009 11:50:27 PM PDT by Windcatcher (Obama is a COMMUNIST and the MSM is his armband-wearing propaganda machine.)
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To: Son House

http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/detroit-5-br-35-bath.png


68 posted on 10/24/2009 11:59:22 PM PDT by Fred Nerks (fair dinkum)
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To: mysterio
Sad. “Made in America” still means something to me.

People would never have bought foreign cars if American cars had the same quality at the same price. This is due to the management and the unions.

69 posted on 10/25/2009 12:15:31 AM PDT by Lucius Cornelius Sulla (He said red, yellow, black or white, All are equal in his sight, Mmm, mmm, mm!, Barack Hussein Obama)
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To: mysterio

Sad. “Made in America” still means something to me. I’m sorry that’s not the case for a lot of people.


The #1 problem with Michigan is the Economic Anti-Americanism over the past 3 or 4 decades. There were not problems when Made In America was the norm.

Now, with both parties adopting George Soros Free Trade ideas....the economy of Michigan (and many other states....whether right-to-work or non-manufacturing) is in the toilet.

Florida, like Michigan, is now losing more people than gaining....and most of the people Florida is gaining now are uneducated illegals and uneducated non-English speaking. Florida has no manufacturing or large union presence


70 posted on 10/25/2009 12:30:53 AM PDT by UCFRoadWarrior (The Return of America)
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To: Son House

Soon there will be nobody left in Detroit except the good folks at ACORN.


71 posted on 10/25/2009 2:00:07 AM PDT by bustinchops (Teddy ("The Hiccup") Kennedy - the original water-boarder)
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To: Tzimisce

Yeah. They’ll move to the south and central couth and screw those states up with their voting patterns, entitlement mentality and unions the same way they screwed up MI, etc..


72 posted on 10/25/2009 2:02:11 AM PDT by bustinchops (Teddy ("The Hiccup") Kennedy - the original water-boarder)
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To: dr_who

Huh? Why? These are the same dumb SOBs who voted for her in the first place.


73 posted on 10/25/2009 2:03:11 AM PDT by bustinchops (Teddy ("The Hiccup") Kennedy - the original water-boarder)
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To: Bahbah

The people couldn’t be that great or they wouldn’t have voted in a rash of bozos to ruin their lives.


74 posted on 10/25/2009 2:06:24 AM PDT by bustinchops (Teddy ("The Hiccup") Kennedy - the original water-boarder)
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To: Repeal The 17th

No, it won’t. Don’t forget ACORN is VERY prominent there.


75 posted on 10/25/2009 2:09:00 AM PDT by bustinchops (Teddy ("The Hiccup") Kennedy - the original water-boarder)
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To: MamaDearest
"Detroit was anything"

My dad grew up in Detroit, and we used to visit the grandparents and other relatives. I remember the Detroit Museum of Natural Science, or whatever its called, as being great. Got hit by a car in Detroit too. Haven't been back since the sixties.

76 posted on 10/25/2009 3:23:44 AM PDT by driftless2 (for long term happiness, learn how to play the accordion)
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To: Westlander

A couple of weeks ago, saw someone put up a handwritten sign, guess he was doing a short sell for his house a block over, $15,500.


77 posted on 10/25/2009 3:46:33 AM PDT by Springman (Rest In Peace YaYa123)
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To: EDINVA

Rich AND clueless? That’s a dangerous combination, LOL!


78 posted on 10/25/2009 5:29:32 AM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin (Save The Earth. It's The Only Planet With Chocolate.)
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To: Fred Nerks
You gotta wonder why this is not "front page news" (silly me)in more papers.Probably does not suit the zero agenda,if this is the future, which it could be it may not be the hope and change the Joker wants everyone to see.

In the end people vote with their feet,it's happening down here in what would be normally be referred to as a more affluent area.Three years ago the avg. home price here neared 7 figures.Now its less than half and dropping fast.

At least half the current residents are ready to go were it not for depressed home values they would be gone. I Know I would be.

Reason--local govt. gone wild, unfettered immigration run wild.Govt. failures,at all levels, due to liberalism/socialism gone wild.

79 posted on 10/25/2009 5:32:00 AM PDT by rodguy911 (HOME OF THE FREE BECAUSE OF THE BRAVE--GO SARAHCUDA !!)
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To: Son House

Who'd want to leave this? Starnesville, MI.

80 posted on 10/25/2009 6:28:05 AM PDT by Tribune7 (I am Joe Wilson!)
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