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Pew Study Reveals Grim News for Michigan


Last Update: 11/12 6:31 am
(WXYZ) - Michigan highlights from the Pew Center on the States report released Wednesday:

--Between 2001 and 2010, Michigan is expected to lose 1 million jobs, with more than one-third of those disappearing this year and more than 268,000 lost in the auto industry.

--Michigan ranked 37th for per-capita income in 2008, and could slip into the 10 poorest states this year.

--Michigan's population count has not changed much over the past decade, but the state is losing school students. At the same time, the number of adults aged 65 and over has grown 7 percent since 2000.

--The state tax code exempts some of the most prosperous segments of the economy, giving special tax breaks to retirees and businesses and charging sales tax on just a few services.

--Michigan over the past decade has relied on $8 billion in one-time measures to balance the budget.

--The number of classified state employees has dropped 16.9 percent between 2001 and this year.

--Michigan's pension system is considered well-funded at nearly 84 percent as of 2008, and the state has not neglected its annual required pension payments during the recession.

--Last year, the state offered $6.3 billion more in total tax exemptions to businesses and others than it collected in taxes. In 1998, it took in $6.8 billion more than it exempted.

--Even if the state economy begins growing at the rapid rate of the 1990s, it could be 2025 or 2030 before Michigan replaces all the jobs lost this decade.


(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
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