24/7 Wall St. analyzed a report commissioned by the United States Conference of Mayors that looked at how cities are faring economically and getting unemployed residents back to work. The news isn't good for Flint, Mich. The former auto industry stronghold is in the top five of metropolitan cities ruined or nearly destroyed by the recession. Here are details from that report created by IHS Global Insight.
* According to U.S. News and World Report, there is a downside to the projected economic recovery. The Federal Reserve assures us that there was "modest to moderate growth" between November and December 2011. Stocks are predicted to rebound, too. State jobless rates are making the same comeback. however.
* The nationwide unemployment rate fell off almost one point from 9.4 percent to 8.5 percent. Some of that has to do not with more people finding work, but with fewer people exiting the job market altogether. Of the 23 million U.S. workers unemployed, 2.5 million have quit looking. Many unskilled workers will continue to have difficulty finding employment, too.
* The IHS report reviewed statistics about 363 metropolitan areas, all of which lost jobs in the recent recession; only about 61 percent of those areas will recoup the jobs absorbed by economic downturn. The majority of cities will only recover about 40 percent of their pre-recession workforce.
* Nine metropolitan regions were virtually leveled economically, says Wall Street 24/7, an analysis and commentary source for U.S. and global investors. These cities are projected to see only about 5 percent new job growth. In order of least to greatest job loss, these regions are: Norwich-New London, Conn.; Brunswick, Ga.; Abilene, Texas.; Wichita Falls, Texas., Flint, Mich.; Champaign-Urbana, Ill.; Santa Barbara-Santa Maria-Goletta, Calif.; Reno-Sparks, Nev. and Carson City, Nev.
* In the first quarter of 2007, Flint, Mich., hit top employment of 151,300 people employed. In the economic downturn, 13.3 percent of those residents lost job. Only about 2.8 percent are expected to be recovered. The value of exports from Flint has dropped over 80 percent since 2005 and poverty is at 21 percent. Flint's unemployment was over 15 percent not seasonally-adjusted in November.
* Statewide, Michigan's unemployment is down to 9.3 percent, says the Michigan DTMB (Department of Technology, Management and Budget). Statewide, Michigan's employment is up 1.7 percent from last year. Besides Flint, Michigan regions of Detroit-Livonia-Dearborn, Battle Creek, Monroe, Niles-Benton Harbor and Kalamazoo-Portage are also showing slow or negative growth in job rates.
Marilisa Kinney Sachteleben writes about people, places, events and issues in her home state of "Pure Michigan."