Really Howey, you're actually trying to pass off projected jobs as actual jobs?
Ok!The Michigan economy surprised forecasters this year, adding more jobs than expected. Even better: many of those jobs have been high-paying auto and professional positions.
The state will end the year with a gain of 63,000 jobs, according to a new forecast from the University of Michigan. That's only the second time since 2000 the state added more jobs than the year before, and well above the gain of 38,000 jobs in 2010...
Fulton credits the faster pace to Michigan's auto industry, which created 25,000 jobs this year and 19,000 in 2010. It's a big change from the years when the auto industry's painful restructuring cost Michigan jobs in industries that served carmakers and their workers.
"Once Michigan's curse, the manufacturing sector has become its blessing," Fulton said.
More from the
WSJ:Auto makers capped 2011 with a strong December and forecast the recovery in U.S. sales would intensify as long as a stabilizing economy and improved U.S. job gains continue to encourage shoppers. Detroit auto makers reported increases in vehicle sales for December, with Chrysler Group LLC posting a 37% rise, Ford Motor Co. citing a 10% gain and General Motors Co. reporting a 4.6% increase. For the full year, Chrysler's sales rose 26%, Ford's 11% and GM's 13%.
All told, auto makers sold 1.2 million cars and light trucks in December, a rise of 8.7% from the same month in 2010, according to Autodata Corp. Light vehicles sales for all of 2011 totaled 12.8 million, Autodata said, an increase of 10.3% from 2010.
The annualized sales pace in December was 13.56 million vehicles, the second highest of 2011. It also marked the fourth consecutive month in which the sales pace topped 13 million, a positive sign for 2012.
Want some more, lilHiro?
From
McClatchey:WASHINGTON — After a near collapse at the height of the Great Recession, the streamlined U.S. auto industry defied the odds and outperformed the greater economy this year with solid sales increases, job growth and product innovations that signal that a full industry recovery no longer is just possible, but probable.
Credit better quality and pent-up consumer demand for the industry's slow, steady improvement. Customers who were unwilling to gamble on automobile purchases during the recession are coming back to showrooms because the average age of vehicles on U.S. roads is more than 10 years — the highest ever.
U.S. car buyers also are getting comfortable with making large purchases in the volatile economy, experts say..
"And that's a big behavioral change from what we saw in '08 and '09. That's good for the industry," said Jesse Toprak, the chief industry analyst for TrueCar.com, an auto-pricing website.
After selling roughly 11.8 million cars and trucks last year, U.S. vehicle sales to businesses and consumers are expected to hit nearly 12.8 million in 2011, Toprak said. That's up from 10.6 million at the height of the Great Recession in 2009.
Now I see why you had to go back four years for bad news. It was Dubya time!
