Michigan suffered nation’s worst job loss to close 2020
More than 64,000 Michigan jobs evaporated in December – the worst decline in the nation. The Wolverine State also saw the second-worst drop in jobs over the year.
With Gov. Gretchen Whitmer poised to deliver her State of the State address, new federal data show the Michigan economy is sputtering.
In fact, Michigan suffered the most severe job loss in the nation in December, shedding more than 64,000 jobs according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, or BLS. While the state’s 1.6% decline in jobs was second only to Minnesota, no other state in the nation saw a larger raw decline in jobs over the month.
Statewide job prospects dimmed after Whitmer imposed on Nov. 18 a renewed stay-at-home order from the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. But throughout the last year, the Wolverine State has been among the worst places in the nation to find and hold a job.
In fact, Michigan saw the second-worst job loss in the nation over the year.
Michigan suffered a nearly 11% decline in jobs in 2020, placing the Great Lakes state second to only Hawaii – whose workforce was especially hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on tourism.
The 11% decline translates to 486,800 jobs lost statewide, the third-worst decline nationally in terms raw job loss numbers – with only California and New York seeing larger losses.
Michigan businesses have been the hardest hit in the Unites States by statewide COVID-19 measures, according to an earlier BLS survey. Nearly one-third of businesses in Michigan were closed under Whitmer’s COVID-19 orders, while the national average was less than 20%.
Workers in Michigan’s restaurant and bar industry were hit especially hard. More than a quarter of all restaurant and bar jobs statewide were wiped out last year, according to figures from the National Restaurant Association and BLS. Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic and initial restrictions in March 2020, Michigan saw a decline of 86,500 restaurant and bar industry jobs – the third-worst decline in the nation in terms of both raw job loss and percent change.
Whitmer announced Jan. 22 that restaurants could reopen for indoor dining Feb. 1, with limited capacity and other COVID-19 health precautions – but was quick to hint that backsliding COVID-19 case and hospitalization rates could result in another dining ban.