Gov. Gretchen Whitmer took to Twitter on Nov. 3 to tout Michigan’s jobs record. She tweeted “Michigan’s economic recovery is among the strongest — with 355,000 jobs announced in 2021 and 2022. I will keep working with anyone to boost Michigan’s economy and put Michiganders on a path to good-paying jobs.”

But no matter how much Whitmer praises job growth in Michigan, the numbers do not support her enthusiasm.

It is no secret Whitmer had some of the most rigid lockdown measures in America. Some 32% of Michigan businesses reported government-mandated shutdowns in 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Unfortunately for Michigan, the sting of the economic shutdown that began in March 2020 is still felt.

There are 25 states that have recovered from COVID-19 pandemic job losses. Michigan is not one of them. The state had 4,452,700 jobs in February 2020. That number is down to 4,370,700 as of October 2022, a 1.8% decrease. Michigan ranks as the ninth-worst state in the nation for jobs recovery.

Whitmer is not the only one overhyping Michigan’s abysmal jobs numbers.

Bridge Michigan published a piece that attempted to explain how good the pandemic was for outdoor recreation jobs. “Buoyed by a global pandemic that shuttered public gathering spaces and pushed people outdoors, Michigan’s outdoor recreation economy grew by 15.4 percent last year, contributing $10.8 billion and 109,595 jobs to the state’s economy, according to a new report by the federal Bureau of Economic Analysis.”

The pandemic did not shutter public gathering spaces or “push people outdoors.” It was the governor’s executive orders that did this, with their prohibition on public gatherings, especially indoors.

The states that quickly reopened now enjoy a booming economy. Michigan is a different story. Outdoor recreation jobs are down 17,810 from pre-pandemic levels, a 14% decrease.

The outdoor recreation economy is down 5.4% from pre-pandemic levels, after adjusting for inflation, according to James Hohman, director of fiscal policy at the Mackinac Center.

“Michigan’s recovery has been slower than the rest of the states,’” Hohman told CapCon. “Gov. Whitmer forced more businesses to shut down in 2020 than any other government, and that decision mattered to the state’s recovery. This applies even more to the state’s outdoor recreation industry. Having told people to stay inside and away from others in 2020 matters to the number of jobs in this industry in 2022.”

When incoming U.S. Rep. John James takes office in January, he will, he says, represent the top manufacturing district in all of America. While James hopes that Michigan can lead in the transition from internal combustion vehicles to electric vehicles, he cautions against doing so prematurely, on arbitrary deadlines, and in a way that makes the country dependent on China.

James has cited environmental and human rights reasons for his caution against a rush to EVs. In August, The Detroit News reported that James told a group of Macomb County voters that EVs are “terrible for the planet.”

As The News reported:

“I don't think folks are looking at how we go about mining these things,” James said.

James said he’d favor blocking the sale of metals for EVs from China, the Congo and other countries that commit human rights abuses, even if it crippled U.S. production of EVs.

“One thing we cannot have happen, under any circumstance, is condoning slavery,” said James, who is five generations removed from slavery in his own family. “I'm not good with that.”

Three months later, when posting to Twitter an interview he had with Fox Business Network, James wrote, “A successful transition from ICE to EVs is critical to Michigan’s & the U.S. economy,” adding “I will do everything to make sure the 10th CD not only has a voice but helps lead the discussion!”

Abby Mitch, a spokesperson for James, told Michigan Capitol Confidential that James is not against EVs, or pushing for them. James, Mitch said, worries about the pace of the transition, and the human rights and environmental concerns currently presented by EVs.

“Arbitrary deadlines cause us to be dependent on Chinese factories,” Mitch said. “We don't have any time to build our own infrastructure here, that causes us to be completely depending dependent on other countries for rare mineral mining, and it causes domestic job loss.”

CapCon has written previously that EVs come with serious moral and environmental trade-offs, just as internal combustion engines do.

It’s those trade-offs that James is trying to navigate. Michigan’s auto heritage does not guarantee the future, especially if EVs and internal combustion engines are viewed as different projects, as Ford views them.

James would prefer the market to decide which technology wins out, not Washington. Regardless of the means of powering the automobile, James hopes cars will continue to be built in Michigan.

“It's not the role of government to stop a private industry that wants to sell electric vehicles instead of combustion,” Mitch told CapCon. “It is not our job to tell them they can’t do that. However, it is also not the government’s job to force the hand of industry and force people out of jobs and create unwise dependencies on foreign actors that have not been kind.”