In the States, COVID Spending Heads Off to the (Robo-Dog) Races
Forty all-terrain vehicles, five utility terrain vehicles, and 18 utility trailers: $626,000.
Using public funds earmarked for coronavirus relief to buy these items: priceless.
That’s just a fraction of supposedly COVID-related spending by a single police department, in Honolulu, Hawaii. But it hints at what authorities will find as they begin to comb through the receipts from the emergency spending binge of public offices across the country during the pandemic.
In March 2020, Congress passed the roughly $2 trillion Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, or CARES Act.
Government watchdogs, critics and the media have so far focused on federal loans to businesses and unemployment scams, finding hundreds of millions of squandered dollars. Less scrutinized is how state and local offices themselves deployed the money. Also tapped were the emergency funds of some states, again opening the door to misspendin
Michigan s unemployment rate dropped slightly in March, but it s still higher compared with a year ago, before the pandemic led to mass furloughs and layoffs.
The state s jobless rate declined to 5.1% in March, down slightly from 5.2% in February, the Michigan Department of Technology, Management and Budget said Wednesday. The same month a year ago, the unemployment rate in Michigan was 3.7%.
Michigan s jobless rate peaked in the pandemic in April 2020 at nearly 24%. It has hovered around 8% from August until the end of last year, before dropping below 6% in January.
Wayne Rourke, associate director of the state s Bureau of Labor Market Information and Strategic Initiatives, called Michigan s labor market stable.
A program that provided an additional 20 weeks of unemployment benefits in Michigan ends Saturday, the state s Unemployment Insurance Agency said Wednesday.
The agency notified claimants in early March that the program, called Extended Benefits, was ending, but didn t provide a timeline as to when benefits would expire.
But there is some good news for the 16,000 claimants who are receiving these benefits. They are likely eligible for benefits under two federal programs that were implemented late last month, Liza Estlund Olson, acting director of Michigan s UIA, said in a news release.
Those two programs are Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation, which extends benefits for those on regular state benefits, and Pandemic Unemployment Assistance, which offers benefits to those who normally wouldn t qualify for benefits, such as freelancers and contract workers. Benefits through those two programs are available in Michigan until Sept. 4.
April 14, 2021
Michigan’s unemployment rate edged down in March. The Michigan Department of Technology, Management, and Budget has released the following:
Michigan’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate inched down by a tenth of a percentage point to 5.1 percent in March, according to data released today by the Michigan Department of Technology, Management & Budget. Total employment in the state rose by 12,000, while unemployment edged down by 4,000, resulting in a minor workforce gain of 8,000 over the month.
The U.S. jobless rate fell by two-tenths of a percentage point between February and March to 6.0 percent. Michigan’s unemployment rate in March was 0.9 percentage points below the national rate. Since March 2020, the U.S rate advanced by 1.6 percentage points, a slightly larger gain than the 1.4 percentage point increase exhibited by the state.
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Our roundup of the latest news from metro Detroit and Michigan businesses as well as announcements from government agencies, including updates about the COVID-19 pandemic. To share a business or nonprofit story, please send us a message.
Courtesy of Bridge, as of April 13
Our roundup of the latest news from metro Detroit and Michigan businesses as well as announcements from government agencies, including updates about the COVID-19 pandemic. To share a business or nonprofit story, please send us a message.