On today’s Business Beat, Jeff talks about which U.S. states are faring best and which ones worst in job recovery since the start of the pandemic, according to a Wallet Hub report.
Tune in to the Business Beat, below, to learn which state is far and away No. 1 and where Michigan stands:
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WJR Business Beat: (Episode 335) Where Does Michigan Rank in Unemployment Recovery?
Good morning, Paul! Well, as we all know by now, we are experiencing a slowdown in job growth numbers over the last month or two and Wallet Hub is out with their latest report on which U.S. states are faring best and which ones worst in job recovery since the start of the pandemic. Now, overall, November’s jobs report showed that the economy gain just 210,000 non-farm payroll jobs compared to 546,000 just the previous month. And the current U.S. unemployment rate now stands at 4.2%. Now, while we’ve made a great deal of improvements since the historic lows of 14.8% reported in April 2020, current numbers remain at a level still higher than before the pandemic, leaving room for more recovery. Now to rank the states in order of improvement, based on whose unemployment rates have recovered most, Wallet Hub compared the 50 states and the District of Columbia based on five key metrics that compare unemployment rate statistics from the latest month for which data is available (that’s November 2021) and compared it to key dates in 2019 and 2020. And here are some of the key rankings. First, the top five best recovering states from No. 5 to No. 1 are as follows: Coming in at No. 5, Idaho. No. 4, Montana, then Oklahoma, Utah and far and away the best performing state in job recovery, Nebraska. Now, where does our beloved Michigan stand? Not so good news here, Paul. We’re at No. 41. Uh, certainly hoping for better news than that. And while 2021 has been viewed largely as a year favorable to those seeking employment, things have clearly slowed in the last month or two, and Michigan’s recovery has much ground to gain in order to keep pace with the rest of the nation. And with fears over a looming COVID winter maybe approaching us again, things could get worse before they get better, Paul. I’m Jeff Sloan, founder and CEO of startupnation.com, and that’s today’s Business Beat on the Great Voice of the Great Lakes, WJR.
