Despite hopeful rumors that Chrysler had changed its mind about closing down a plant in Sterling Heights, Michigan, Chrysler Group LLC and Fiat SpA CEO Sergio Marchionne has confirmed the plans to shut down the plant. The plant, which will be completely shut down by the end of 2010, employs 1,300 workers.
In the two years leading to Chrysler’s April 30th bankruptcy filing, Chrysler shed 35,000 jobs in an attempt to cut costs as Chrysler and other automakers feel the heat of the recession. Hundreds of workers and their families turned out to rally against the closure of the plant and …read more

Not long ago, there were hopes that the unemployment rate in the United States would stay below 10%. Now it’s simply a matter of when rather than a question of if.
Fifteen out of the fifty states already have a 10% unemployment rate. Many other stats are right of the verge of hitting double figures.
Michigan has been the hardest hit, which isn’t surprising since the state has relied so much on the auto industry over the years. With GM and Chrysler both bankrupt, many Michigan workers lost their jobs. Currently, Michigan has an unemployment rate of over 15%.
Other states that have …read more

The reports are in and it seems like May did not go very well for the job market: in every state but Vermont and Nebraska, the unemployment rate increased, with many states posting record high jobless numbers. Vermont reported no change in its numbers and Nebraska’s unemployment rate decreased by a meager 0.1 percent.
 
Of all the states, Michigan is by far the worst off, featuring a staggering 14.1 percent unemployment rate that has risen from 12.9 percent the previous month. Oregon trails Michigan at a 12.4 percent unemployment rate, with thirteen other states suffering from unemployment numbers above 10 percent.
 
Many …read more

Walmart announced this morning that it plans to create more than 22,000 jobs in 2009. They are hiring store managers, pharmacists, human resource managers, customer service associates, cashiers and sales associates for new and existing stores in the US.
“During this difficult economic time, we’re proud to be able to create quality jobs for thousands of Americans this year,” said Eduardo Castro-Wright, vice chairman of Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. “At Walmart, we offer competitive pay and benefits and real opportunities for our associates to advance and build careers. Job creation is just one way in which we’re working hard every day to …read more

Wayland Chevrolet, a car dealership in Wayland, Michigan, closed its doors for good on Friday. As the news reached employees, multiple fights started breaking out between workers. Video of one of the fights shows two employees scuffling outside of the dealership. Police in the city indicated that they had been to the location earlier in the day after a report of a fight.
The owners of the dealership say that the poor economy was to blame, as was the fact that General Motors is scheduled to shut down a factory in the nearby city of Grand Rapids. Wayland Chevrolet is one …read more

I’ve grown up in the Midwest, what the rest of the United States calls “flyover country.” So it pained me to see the latest list by Forbes.com. The editors there put together a feature story on the United States’ fastest-dying cities. Of course, the Midwest — and Ohio, specifically — dominated the list.

Fannie Mae, which the Associated Press reports funds one of every five home loans in the United States, has written off $185 million of mortgage loans made to homeowners in Michigan and $101 million to those in Ohio. This means that Fannie Mae has decided that it has no chance of recovering any payment on these loans.