Traverse City Record-Eagle

Archive: Wednesday

EDITORIAL

The issue: Jobless rates decline

Our view: Good news, but numbers are still scary

February 8, 2012

Numbers show economic gains; more is yet to be done

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By the numbers, there is some reason to hope Michigan is slowly nosing its way out of the recession that has gripped the state for a decade now. But they also show that children and low-income families remain at risk.

The state unemployment rate dropped half a percentage point to 9.3 percent in December 2011, the lowest level in more than three years and down from 11.1 percent in December 2010.

The dip is welcome and offers hope that we're finally headed toward recovery.

We can't lose sight of reality, however. The social cost of unemployment rates on children, families and communities is still too high.

That 9.3 percent rate is still as unacceptably high as the nation's 8.5 percent rate. Grand Traverse County posted an 8.9 percent jobless rate in December, down from 10.8 percent the year before. Leelanau County came in with the lowest rate in the region at 8.7 percent; Kalkaska County was at 10.8 percent, Antrim 13.1 and Benzie 13.3.

Remember, the "unemployment rate" is calculated by the number of people who actively have been looking for work in the last four weeks.

Although total employment in Michigan increased by 13,000 in December and the number of unemployed fell by 25,000, the state's work force also declined by 12,000, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data reported.

Federal labor analysts calculated Michigan's 2011 rate of unemployment and under-employment at 18.8 percent and the nation's at 15.9 percent. "Under-employment" numbers take into account people who have quit looking for work and part-time workers who'd like to be fulltime. Those are huge numbers.

Last year's annual five-county "Homeless Count," conducted in January 2011, offers a glimpse at the social costs of high jobless rates, mortgage foreclosures and state cuts in social programs and education: 147 people in emergency shelters; 70 people in transitional housing; and 394 people counted as "unstably housed" by the Students in Transition Empowerment Program, run by Traverse City Area Public Schools to serve families and youth who lack fixed, regular and adequate housing.

Statewide, the number of school students now eligible for reduced-price lunches is at 46.5 percent; it's 40.6 percent in Grand Traverse County.

The recent Kids Count of Michigan report indicated the rate of child abuse and neglect grew more than one-third in Michigan from 2000 to 2010 to 39,500 children.

These are scary numbers. Gov. Rick Snyder and our state and federal lawmakers must focus on helping children, parents and low-income families to weather the road to economic recovery.

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