Displaying items tagged: WE Upjohn Institute for Employment Research

Falling off the “benefits cliff,” declining higher education enrollment, and a widespread skills gap have each contributed to Michigan’s labor force participation rate dropping by nearly twice the national average over the past two decades.

An expanded countywide housing millage is already funding five multifamily developments in Kalamazoo County, where studies have identified a need for thousands of additional housing units.

A pilot child care program expansion will help West Michigan parents find affordable child care, tackling one factor that has contributed to labor shortages and employees’ difficulty returning to work.

Kevin Farhat has a fully staffed Garage Bar & Grill near downtown Grand Rapids, and he’s hired about 30 more people to work at a new location opening soon in Ada.

Women have been slower than men to return to the workforce over the past year and a half. They are more often held back by childcare complications from the pandemic and are likely being dissuaded from returning to frontline positions with low pay.

Seneca Powers took a familiar path among young professionals born and raised in West Michigan who left town with professional aspirations. She’s also part of the demographic that the region must lure back to meet its long-term workforce needs.

KALAMAZOO — Western Michigan University Homer Stryker M.D. School of Medicine helped add 1,600 mostly private-sector jobs and hundreds of millions of dollars in personal income and sales across the Kalamazoo region in 2020, according to an economic impact study. 

The Biden administration’s $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan Act is a big and bold injection into the U.S. economy that critics — such as all GOP members in the House and Senate who voted against it — have called unnecessarily expensive. However, supporters say the broad support for state and local governments and targeted relief to individuals and families will provide both immediate and long-term benefits. Susan Houseman, vice president and director of research at the Kalamazoo-based W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research, said while the latest stimulus reflects Democratic spending priorities, it will also help to ensure a swift post-pandemic economic recovery. Houseman spoke with MiBiz a day after Congress approved the legislation and before it was signed by President Biden.

Ottawa County expects to have a better understanding later this year of exactly where gaps exist locally for broadband internet service so it can begin to address the issue.

Michigan’s economy could stand to benefit in the years ahead as manufacturers move to reshore work to the U.S. after dealing with severe disruptions in their foreign supply chains when the coronavirus first surfaced in China.

GRAND RAPIDS — West Michigan’s economy sits well positioned heading into 2021 to continue recovering jobs lost from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, experts said this week.

Two hundred and forty six days passed between Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s first stay-at-home order to fight the COVID-19 pandemic and new state restrictions scaling back and closing some businesses.  

University of Michigan researchers told state officials at this month’s revenue estimating conference they anticipate a gradual economic recovery in the next few years, resulting in an unemployment rate of 6.8 percent by the end of 2022.

The number of Michigan companies using work sharing has spiked during the COVID-19 pandemic but the state program meant to avoid layoffs still represents relatively few participants compared to the number of workers fully unemployed.

Shrinking revenue from sales, income and gasoline taxes could cost state and local governments billions of dollars in the coming months, potentially cutting already stretched services and leading to a prolonged recession without sufficient federal support.

Three weeks ago, Tim Bartik laid out a series of steps to encourage a “V-shaped” economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic. 

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and federal lawmakers have taken a variety of steps to help businesses and employees navigate the short-term harm posed by the coronavirus. 

For Michigan companies scaling back but not completely shutting down as the state tightens restrictions to stop the spread of the coronavirus, a little-used program is drawing new attention as an alternative to layoffs.

Whitmer’s order this week expanding unemployment benefits is part of a suite of state and federal policy options to shield small businesses affected by the coronavirus pandemic.

For this 13th installment of Crystal Ball, MiBiz reporters interviewed dozens of West Michigan executives about their outlook for the state and national economy and the indicators they’re watching as they prepare their businesses for the new year. While no single issue seemed to rise to the top this year, here’s a subjective list of their concerns that came up most often, ranked in no particular order. 

If the long-promised economic downturn is on the horizon, manufacturers will be the first to feel it in 2020. That’s according to economists and industry experts who say the U.S. economy has become virtually split as it’s powered by confident consumers but weakened by a cautious business sector that is reducing investments and bracing for a contraction.

Fears of a national recession in 2020 are largely unfounded. So insists Jim Robey, director of regional economic planning services at the Kalamazoo-based W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research.

A combination of factors came together in 2019 to take a bite out of Michigan’s economy. The six-week General Motors strike, white-collar job cuts at GM and Ford early in 2019, a slowing manufacturing sector, and relatively flat auto sales collectively held back the state’s growth this year.

On top of ongoing trade disputes and the disruptive GM strike, two statistical gauges of the U.S. manufacturing industry hit new lows, leaving economists and manufacturers preparing for a meaningful economic shift from a decade of growth. 

Whether the West Michigan manufacturing industry continues on an ongoing growth trend in 2019 or veers into a contraction remains uncertain. Economist Paul Isely, associate dean for undergraduate programs in the Seidman College of Business at Grand Valley State University, uses automotive, furniture, agriculture, and “amazingly nowadays” aerospace manufacturing to find the pulse of where the region’s economy is headed in the coming months and years. 

Interest rates likely will rise again in 2019. How much and how often remains the question following the latest quarter-point increase in the federal funds rate last week by the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), which for two years has been raising interest rates from historic lows reached a decade ago during the Great Recession.

Michigan’s economy will see slower economic and employment growth in 2019 amid the ongoing tight labor market and less U.S. economic growth, economists say.

Robert Dye views 2019 as a “transitional year” for the U.S. economy as a trio of forces align to moderate growth during the year.

Backers of a law mandating paid sick leave in Michigan say they’ll launch a new petition drive to put the issue on the 2020 ballot if lawmakers weaken it during the lame-duck legislative session in Lansing.

As the U.S. wades deeper into a trade war with countries including China, West Michigan-based office furniture manufacturers have been forced to raise prices and re-evaluate their supply chains to mitigate risks.