Report: More Time Spent Looking For Jobs
LANSING (WWJ) - The unemployed in Michigan are spending more time looking for jobs according to a report from the Michigan League for Human Services.
According to the 2011 Labor Day report, workers aged 25 to 54 spent six months or more looking for jobs. That's the longest since the data started being tracked in 1979.
The report also documents a rise in African-American unemployment, even as overall unemployment declined.
Unemployed workers in four cities with majority African-American populations, Detroit, Pontiac, Inkster and Highland Park, accounted for 16 percent of all unemployed workers last year. And, the share of Michigan workers employed in low-wage jobs has climbed to more than 25-percent.
Along the same lines, four of the top six jobs in Michigan have median wages that will not bring a family of four out of poverty.
The report calls for restoration of the basic Unemployment Insurance to 26 weeks.
"Michigan's unemployed workers are struggling mightily to find new work once they are displaced, and, sadly, the unemployment rate for some groups continues to rise,'' said League President and CEO Gilda Z. Jacobs. "This information shows that our public structures must respond to families in deep need as we continue to fight our way out of this terrible economy.''
The data from the report was supplied by the Economic Policy Institute as part of its State of Working America project.
