1/27/2024 0 Comments Populous vs populace![]() The economists say the return to pre-pandemic labor force levels reflects the strength of the county’s economy, though they caution that labor shortages “will be an ongoing fact of life for the foreseeable future in southeastern Michigan.” If the forecast holds, the county’s rate would be roughly half of a percentage point below its average right before the pandemic. The forecast calls for the county’s unemployment rate to fall from 3.4% in mid-2024 to 2.8% by the end of 2025, compared with a projected state jobless rate of 3.9% at the end of that period. The economists forecast the rate to rise modestly in the first half of next year as the nation enters a mild recession, dampening the local job market. The county’s jobless rate is expected to average 2.7% in the first part of this year before rising to 3% by the end of it. That, they say, should go some way toward lessening wage inequality. One encouraging sign in the forecast is that wages are expected to grow more quickly in the county’s lower-wage industries than the higher-wage industries during the next three years. Those proportions were nearly reversed for Black and Hispanic residents. They also note stark differences in incomes by race and ethnicity: 18% of the county’s non-Hispanic and white residents lived in households classified as lower income in 2021 and 31% lived in upper income households. As of 2021, the area containing Pontiac and Waterford Township had an average household income after adjusting for household size that was less than one-half the average in the area containing Birmingham, Bloomfield Hills and Bloomfield Township. Still, the economists say, the prosperity is uneven. Households (28%) is much larger than that of the state (17%). The share of county residents living in higher-income Countywide, 20% of residents live in low-income households, compared to 30% of the state. Overall, Oakland County has fewer lower-income residents and more upper-income residents than Michigan. “Despite the challenges of the past year, we are optimistic that 2023 will feature a return to normalcy in Oakland County’s economy with job growth relatively widespread across industries, even as the national economy slows,” said Gabriel Ehrlich, director of RSQE. The recent data has been “puzzling,” the economists say, and could be the result of “commuting, an increase in multiple job holdings by residents or a decline in self-employment.” They are also concerned by the county’s resident employment count declining by nearly 8,000 in the 12-month period ending in February 2023. The county’s job growth through the third quarter of last year lagged Michigan as a whole, with Oakland recovering 82% of the jobs it lost at the start of the pandemic and the state recovering 90%. The positive outlook the economists provide in the forecast would follow what they describe as an economic “mixed bag” for 2022. The local labor force is expected to grow more quickly than the number of employed residents, which puts upward pressure on the jobless rate this fall and the first half of 2024. In its annual forecast of the Oakland County economy, the U-M Research Seminar in Quantitative Economics predicts the number of jobs will grow by 1.4% this year, 1.3% in 2024 and 1.6% in 2025. Oakland, one of the state’s most populous counties and among the nation’s most prosperous, is expected to see job gains over the next three years, bringing its payroll jobs count back to pre-pandemic levels in the second quarter of 2025 and 1.2% higher by the end of that year. Oakland County’s economy is expected to return to normal this year and has a “solidly positive outlook” over the next few years, according to University of Michigan economists. Punish the infidels with plagues, earthquakes, and tornadoes.Vector illustration of the Oakland County green road sign on metallic posts.The power of light or the force of darkness? Holy wrath or divine miracles – you decide.Become a god, assume godly powers, shape civilizations, and make them all bow to your will.Includes Populous and the Promised Lands expansion.Be sure to check out one of Bullfrog's earliest classics, from the mind of Peter Molyneux! Populous is the original god-game, a strategy title that lets you shape the isometric isometric world and the fates of its inhabitants. With 500 worlds, a deity's work is never done. Cruel ice, lush grassland, parched desert. For stubborn non-believers, nothing beats a flood for spring cleaning. What's a deity to do? Disasters are your divine prerogative - volcanoes, quakes, swamps. ![]() You make them content beyond their wildest dreams. You tell them when to farm and when to fight. These days, it takes awesome natural disasters to dominate a world. But omnipotence isn't what it used to be. The all-powerful can perform miracles in their sleep.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |