Michigan suffered the worst job losses in the country in December as Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s (D) latest lockdown stretched well past the announced three-week phase.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor and Statistics, Michigan lost 64,400 jobs in the final month of 2020, Michigan Rising Action found.
The stats also revealed Michigan had the 11th highest unemployment rate: 7.5 percent.
Michigan Rising Action also reported 15 states added jobs during the period while 24 others remained stable.
The top five states with the highest unemployment rate included:
- Hawaii — 9.3 percent
- Nevada — 9.2 percent
- California — 9.0 percent
- Colorado — 8.4 percent
- New Mexico, New York — 8.2 percent
The states with the lowest unemployment rate were:
- Nebraska, South Dakota — 3.0 percent
- Iowa, Vermont — 3.1 percent
- Utah — 3.6 percent
- Alabama — 3.9 percent
Michigan saw a 3.6 percentage-point increase year-over-year, from 3.9 percent in December 2019.
Last week, Whitmer eased restrictions on restaurants and bars, allowing them to reopen for indoor dining on Monday, February 1. Still, she limited capacity to 25 percent and ordered them closed by 10:00 p.m., Breitbart News reported.
“The pause has worked,” Whitmer claimed of the original “three-week pause” announced 14 weeks ago in November.
“The efforts we have made together to protect our families, frontline workers and hospitals have dramatically reduced cases and we have saved lives. Now, we are confident that starting Feb. 1, restaurants can resume indoor dining with safety measures in place,” the governor claimed.
After the mid-January extension, the Michigan Restaurant and Lodging Association (MRLA) blasted Whitmer.
“There are more than 100,000 unemployed hospitality workers and thousands of small operators on the edge of bankruptcy all waiting for hope and direction, and once again it did not come,” MRLA President and CEO Justin Winslow said.
“This is unacceptable and we should all demand more accountability.”
“Michigan led the country in jobs lost last month because of Gov. Whitmer’s continued lockdowns. It’s time for Whitmer to work with the legislature to reopen the economy and safely put students back in the classroom,” Michigan Rising Action’s executive director, Tori Sachs, said.
Kyle Olson is a reporter for Breitbart News. He is also host of “The Kyle Olson Show,” syndicated on Michigan radio stations on Saturdays–download full podcast episodes. Follow him on Parler.
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