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| Economy |
| Michigan struggles to help out its jobless |
| 2009-07-31 |
| Michigan's unemployment system is swamped with a backlog of about 100,000 claims involving disputes or problems, as it copes with 450,000 people receiving benefits. "This is not a normal situation," said Norm Isotalo, Unemployment Insurance Agency spokesman. Indeed. Michigan's 15.2% unemployment rate leads the nation. Since December, nearly 600,000 new claims were filed for unemployment benefits, with 58,000 new cases in June. To handle the load, the state added 400 unemployment workers -- a 28% increase. It has helped, but the system is still overloaded. Those who apply or receive benefits can handle their claims online. Those who try to call by phone face hours-long waits, though a new 24-hour phone line aims to reduce wait times. "I tried for three hours, and I still couldn't get through. My cell phone battery died," said Jerry Glover, 37, who was laid off from his job in Holland making environmental testing equipment. Added Lillie Yarborough, 62, of Detroit, who lost her job as a customer service representative at AAA Michigan: "I could never get through." She tried Monday and Tuesday to call to extend her benefits before finally driving to a claims office in Livonia. "They're overwhelmed," Yarborough said. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #9 Added Lillie Yarborough, 62, of Detroit, who lost her job as a customer service representative at AAA Michigan: "I could never get through." Interestingly enough, even AAA is retrenching. And not just in Michigan. |
| Posted by: Zhang Fei 2009-07-31 13:49 |
| #8 A majority of people in Michigan are nearly as stupid as people in Minnesota, and twice as self destructive. Hey, I resemble that remark! Interestingly enough, the stupidity is not evenly distributed. If you look at the 2008 election results by county for Michigan, you see a clear cut divide between rural Republican and urban Democrat. Or farmers vs union members and minorities, if you will. That big blue area down in the lower right is Detroit - Michigan's poster child for bad government for the last half century. A lot of Michigan's social welfare and benefits were set up during the decades when the auto industry was thriving and state was booming. Little adaptation has taken place - other than deciding to plow up some of the paved roads and putting a tax on the business tax - because no pols want to play the Bad Guy and it is always easier to kick the can a little further down the road. |
| Posted by: SteveS 2009-07-31 12:29 |
| #7 "making environmental testing equipment" sounds like one of those green jobs that are so important to the new economy. |
| Posted by: bman 2009-07-31 10:55 |
| #6 Cash for Clunkers program is out of cash. Perhaps the one 'stimulus' program that was actually doing some stimulating - Depending on how much was skimmed for 'overhead' it should have been good for around one quarter million units of new car sales. (Of course it could have been 90% overhead and 25,000 car sales.) Looks like it must not have been Detroit iron though. |
| Posted by: Glenmore 2009-07-31 09:14 |
| #5 and yes, I *meant* abject, not object, lesson (though both apply) |
| Posted by: OldSpook 2009-07-31 07:37 |
| #4 "This is not a normal situation" Actually, in Michigan, it is. You have the worst give-away welfare coupled with massive union bennies and high taxes that are chasing business out, so what did you expect when you kept voting in Democrats with those policies? A majority of people in Michigan are nearly as stupid as people in Minnesota (Sen Franken!?!?!!!), and twice as self destructive. Michigan: an abject lesson in what happens when you put into power the culture of the looters. |
| Posted by: OldSpook 2009-07-31 07:36 |
| #3 Might we also use the yardstick of prison populations and sentencing to measure the success of our courts and legal systems Bright Pebbles? |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2009-07-31 07:31 |
| #2 Government does not solve problems; it subsidizes them. Ronald Reagan We should measure welfare's success by how many people leave welfare, not by how many are added. Ronald Reagan |
| Posted by: Bright Pebbles 2009-07-31 07:23 |
| #1 To handle the load, the state added 400 unemployment workers The obvious solution is to hire more unemployed workers to process unemployment claims. Two birds with one stone, eh? |
| Posted by: SteveS 2009-07-31 01:00 |