Michigan lags other states in regaining jobs lost due to pandemic-era lockdown

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer tweeted Sept. 26, “Small businesses are the backbone of Michigan’s economy and communities across the state.”

The governor says she will ensure that businesses have the support they need.

Yet under Whitmer, Michigan had some of the harshest lockdown orders in the nation, which led to widespread unemployment and businesses closing their doors. Roughly one in three Michigan businesses reported a government-mandated closure in 2020, according to survey data.

Michigan still has not recovered.

Numbers from the Bureau of Labor Statistics show that in August, the number of jobs in Michigan was still 2.2% off its pre-pandemic level. There were 4,416,400 non-farm payroll jobs in February 2020, before the pandemic. There were 4,356,700 such jobs in August, a 2.2% decrease.

“Michigan hasn’t recovered from the pandemic. And a lot of that is because of the nation’s most extreme business lockdown, which affects recover today,” says James Hohman, director of fiscal policy at the Mackinac Center for Public Policy.