More than 1 in 4 Michigan residents are worried about being able to put food on their table, and more than half of all laid-off or furloughed workers are unsure how they’ll feed their families, according to a new statewide poll conducted amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Michigan unemployment
Posted inBusiness Watch
Michigan small businesses rocked by coronavirus turn to Congress for help
Programs set up to help businesses decimated by the coronavirus shutdown have run out of money or halted applications. One Michigan business owner thought his application for a portion of $349 billion in federal stimulus was set only to learn the money ran out.
Posted inBusiness Watch
‘Depression-level’ Michigan unemployment tops 1 million from coronavirus
Economists are struggling to find words to describe stunning job losses they’re seeing in the state, and they don’t know how many more will follow during the economic lockdown in a pandemic
Posted inMichigan Government
Government layoffs, service cuts start as coronavirus guts Michigan budgets
Local governments across Michigan are beginning to lay off and furlough workers as they brace for a “perfect storm” of increased spending demands and revenue shortfalls resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic that has ground the economy to a halt. The state — facing its own projected $7 billion hole — is in no position to help.
Posted inMichigan Health Watch
As Michigan fights coronavirus, hospitals gush money and workers lose jobs
From metropolitan health systems to independent rural hospitals, hospital budgets are taking big financial hits as surgeries and other money making medical procedures are put on hold.
Posted inUrban Affairs
Detroit food banks overrun by coronavirus demand
Despite adding capacity, food banks throughout Michigan are running out of food, crushed by the hunger created by the pandemic’s economic strain.
Posted inMichigan Government
‘Operation Gridlock’ protest of Gov. Whitmer stay-home order jams Lansing
SLIDESHOW: Hundreds of cars descend on downtown Lansing to protest Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s stay-home order. Protesters say the new limits go too far and infringe on liberties. Whitmer says they’re necessary to save lives.
Posted inBusiness Watch
Coronavirus could drain Michigan unemployment fund within months
The crush of 1 million new claims is rapidly depleting Michigan’s unemployment fund, which could force the state to borrow money. Jobless workers would still get checks, but Michigan may have to raise business taxes to repay the debt, slowing any recovery.
Posted inMichigan Health Watch
Michigan nurses getting fat pay raises or pink slips in coronavirus crisis
As hospitals in COVID-19 hotspots are in a bidding war for critical care nurses while laying off others, experts say a mismatch of labor needs and supply during the pandemic has serious consequences.
Posted inMichigan Health Watch
Macomb County hospital to lay off nurses unrelated to coronavirus care
Dwindling surgeries at McLaren Macomb blamed for layoffs of nurses as the coronavirus impacts the finances of hospital systems around Michigan.