Trading Places

Lost my job, improved my health

This is the first in a series of personal accounts about how people are surviving the recession. The writers are contributors to Associated Content.

By Meaghan Ringwelski

The auto industry’s problems are nothing new to the people of metro Detroit. The economy’s impact on Michigan hit close to home more than a year ago, when the small Plymouth company I’d worked for closed.

My co-workers and I saw it coming. Microdine, our small-parts distribution company, was struggling badly. As 2007 drew to a close, it was becoming obvious we would have no choice but to shut our doors.

I experienced what so many others in the Detroit area were going through: watching a company, despite cutting as many corners as possible, fall victim to the hideous state of the local economy. Driving away from work on that final day at the end of February 2008, I knew I was going to have my work cut out for me in finding a new job.

At the same time, the news around the country grew bleaker. The economy became one of the focal points of the presidential election season, and I began drawing unemployment. Knowing that it would take a while to find a new job, I decided to make the best of the situation and began figuring out ways to improve my lifestyle for myself and my two children.

Rather than dwelling on the depressing news stories and stump speeches or wringing my hands at the desolate job listings in the Detroit Free Press, I decided to keep busy with some self-improvement activities. In the past, I’d never paid too much attention to watching my budget; but out of necessity, I began learning how to stretch a dollar. I clipped many coupons and hunted down deals. No penny went unaccounted-for.

August jobless rates up in most states, Michigan No. 1

WASHINGTON, Sept 19 (Reuters) – Unemployment rates rose in most U.S. states in August, with Michigan again logging the highest rate of 8.9 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis, the Labor Department reported on Friday.

Altogether, 44 states and the District of Columbia have recorded increases in jobless rates since July, with 24 states registering what the department deems “statistically significant” increases.

Rhode Island had the largest rise — up 3.4 percentage points — since August 2007. It also had the second-highest rate for the month at 8.5 percent. Illustrating how much the job landscape has changed since 2007, a total of 27 states and the District of Columbia posted over-the-year rate increases of 1.0 percentage point or more, the Labor Department said. South Dakota continued to be a bright spot, with the lowest unemployment rate of 3.3 percent in August.

Nationally, the unemployment rate stood at 6.1 percent in August. Since July, nonfarm payroll employment increased in 32 states and the District of Columbia. Louisiana added the most jobs at 9,400, followed by Texas with 6,800 jobs. Conversely, Georgia lost the most jobs at 26,200 — it lost nearly three times the amount of jobs that Louisiana gained — and recorded the largest month-on-month percentage drop of 0.6 percent.

(Reporting by Lisa Lambert; Editing by Jan Paschal)