http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080326/BUSINESS0...
For former auto worker Jerry Brockway, the trail of temporary jobs has stretched from Toledo to Romulus, Mich.
“I’ve been wanting a job for 30 months,” the 51-year-old Ida, Mich., man said. “I’ve ended up with about 30 checks out of about 30 months. I kept wanting to find a new job, all throughout 2007. I go to Michigan Works. I go to The Source, and all I get is temporary jobs that don’t lead to anything.”
Mr. Brockway is far from alone. For tens of thousands of other area residents looking for work, 2007 was not a very good year.
The Ohio Department of Job and Family Services yesterday released its annualized assessment of average joblessness across the state for last year. The report, coupled with information provided by the Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Growth, showed that northwest Ohio and southeast Michigan suffered with an average unemployment rate of 6.4 percent for 2007.
The two states estimate that more than 52,700 area residents out of a total area population of more than 820,000 were unemployed for all or part of 2007.
That rate compares with statewide averages of 5.6 percent for Ohio, 7.2 percent for Michigan, and 4.6 percent for the nation as a whole. Michigan’s annualized jobless rate rose 0.3 percentage point over 2006 figures, Ohio’s rose 0.1 percentage point, and nationwide, the jobless rate was flat over the two year period.
Linda Bowyer, an economist and associate professor of finance at the University of Toledo, said that, in general, unemployment is more an indicator of where the economy has been than where it might be going.
“Despite what people think, most companies don’t want to let people go, especially good employees,” Ms. Bowyer said. “Some of what you’re seeing here locally is kind of structural unemployment because of our ties to the auto industry. We’re more like Michigan than we are to the other parts of Ohio.”
Lucas County had the highest unemployment rate among Ohio’s five most heavily populated counties with 6.7 percent for 2007. By comparison, Montgomery County, where Dayton is located, had an unemployment rate of 6.2 percent for 2007, and Cuyahoga County, including Cleveland, had a rate of 6.1 percent.
“We’ve had several major manufacturers downsize and close,” said Marte Sorg, job-bank supervisor with The Source, Lucas County’s one-stop shop for those seeking employment. “With Jeep eliminating its third shift, that affected a lot of different supplier plants, literally the people who make the nuts and bolts.”
The area’s unemployment rates were highest in two rural counties: Michigan’s Hillsdale County suffered an unemployment rate of 8.6 percent last year and Huron County had a rate of 8.1 percent.
Roger Porter, the IBM professor of business and government at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government, said that counting the unemployed is an inexact science at best.
For instance, he said, “if you’ve gotten discouraged and are no longer looking for work, you’re still unemployed. But when you look at the unemployment number ... that does not take into account the so-called ‘discouraged worker.’”
Mr. Porter said that an estimated 50 million people change jobs during any given year, most voluntarily. “It’s a sign of great health in the economy if people leave one job for another, because normally it means people are working themselves up the chain.”
Lucas County’s Ms. Sorg said she’s seeing the first signs of progress locally.
The county-sponsored Job Fair 2008, planned for 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Friday in the Lucas County Recreation Center, has signed up 105 potential employers all looking to hire, she said.
“We haven’t had this many since the fall of 2000, and these are large employers who are looking at quality employment,” Ms. Sorg said. “There are good jobs out there. The trick is to be ready and be prepared, and go out there and network with employers. This is a good time to do it.”
"Lucas County had the highest unemployment rate among Ohio’s five most heavily populated counties with 6.7 percent for 2007."
toledo's solution to high unemployment..... higher taxes!!!!! i'm sure the unemployed toledoans sleep better knowing some of the government workers got up to a 10% raise.
http://toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080324/NEWS33/803240...
I read that article in the paper today. Sad.
My husband has been actively looking for a job for 10 months to no avail.
No opportunities in his regular profession.
He has applied for manual labor positions. He's fit/athletic and young enough to be a viable candidate. However, when potential employers are getting upwards of 50 applications for every open position, who are they going to hire? One of the dozens of guys who has manual labor experience, or the guy who has been sitting behind a desk for the past 10 years?
He has applied for service sector positions. But, service sector employers seem reluctant to hire "overqualified" people who might jump ship in a few months if a better opportunity comes along. They'd rather hire someone who's more likely to stick around for a while. (Understandable, giving the expense of hiring/training employees.)
So, he's pretty much stuck between a rock and a hard place.
Still, I can't really complain - we're far more fortunate than most. I have a great and stable job, and my salary still places us above the median family income for the area. We can cover all the necessities of life on my income alone.
But my heart still breaks to watch my husband go through the whole job search process - its so demoralizing to be willing to work and not have the opportunity. And I think about the families who are going though the same extended job search situation without being lucky enough to have a spouse who can still cover the bills. I already see how the job search stresses my husband, and I can't even imagine the extra stress of worrying about keeping a roof over your head and food on the table. Even though it would be easy to feel "bad" about my husband's situation, I count my blessings every day for what we do have and take into consideration the people who have it worse.
I feel bad for you and your husband, Sarah. And I am pissed off as hell about our continuing to spend billions of dollars on bullshit when good people are in the straits you are.
I recently laid off a couple of employees because I couldn't afford them. Ohio and its citizens have passed laws that squeeze its business owners so they have to fire people to survive. Yet the state and its employees keep demanding more money. And the Feds are pissing away trillions like water. I am fed up with it.
Keep your job and cope with it. But if it ever gets down to the bottom line, leave Ohio. This isn't a good place to make a living. I'm not sure where is right now.
Or claim success in a neighboring county for jobs created or going to be created after the company(s) leave Toledo.