Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is exaggerating claims of how many auto jobs have been added since she took office.

"The state is...in the midst of a manufacturing boom," the governor's office announced Wednesday, "having added 21,600 auto jobs and counting since Governor Whitmer took office and many other high-skill, in-demand jobs in fields ranging from semiconductor chips to software to agriculture."

That figure also appeared in a May 9 in a press release announcing that Whitmer had declared May 9-13 “Economic Development Week.”

“In partnership with the Michigan Economic Development Corporation, we have added 174,000 jobs year over year, including 21,600 auto jobs since I took office, which has helped bring our unemployment rate down to a low of 4.4%, and we continue to deliver on the kitchen-table issues that matter most to working families,” Whitmer said.

Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics indicate the actual figure is less than one-tenth what the governor is claiming. The number of jobs in the sector known as “transportation equipment manufacturing” has increased only slightly during her term, going from 187,300 in January 2019 to 189,300 in March 2022. That’s down from the peak level of 344,000 jobs in June 2000.

While Whitmer boasted she has the state’s economy moving, the state has still not recovered all the jobs it lost from the COVID-related shutdown of March 2020.

Michigan is down 122,400 jobs since the pandemic began in March 2020. The 2.7% decrease is the 15th-worst for states. By contrast, 13 states have more jobs now than in March 2020.

Students in Detroit are still waiting for permission to stop masking, more than a month after the mask mandate was expected to end.

Detroit Public Schools Community District Superintendent Nikolai Vitti planned to adjust masking requirements for students after Easter weekend, according to Chrystal Wilson, assistant superintendent of communications. That time has come and gone with no reprieve from masking. If the Detroit Federation of Teachers has its way, mask mandates will remain in place until at least the end of the school year, according to Chalkbeat Detroit.

Wilson told Michigan Capitol Confidential in early April that Vitti will use “science and data” to make his determination of whether to continue mask requirements in the district. Although weekly cases have significantly decreased in Wayne County since the new year, the union says 60% of its teachers do not want a voluntary mask policy.

The union went as far as to threaten a legal challenge if the requirement were removed, arguing that the teachers agreed with the district last year to continue mandatory masking through June 30.

According to Michigan’s COVID-19 data, since Jan. 1 there have been 56,320 reported cases in Wayne County and 581 deaths, which represent 0.01% of cases. It is unknown how many people who died of the disease had other conditions that contributed to their death.

The county has seen a 92% decrease in COVID cases since the beginning of the year. Wayne County reported 17,151 COVID-19 cases and 84 deaths between Jan. 1 and Jan. 8, a 0.005% fatality rate. From April 28 through May 4, the number of reported cases came to 1,365. There were two deaths reported, a 0.001% fatality rate.

Terrence Martin, president of Detroit’s teachers union, and the Detroit school district did not respond to emails seeking comment.