South Kent News

Severe lockdowns enacted across the state in response to COVID-19 have hit Michigan’s unemployment rates hard.

James M. Hohman, director of Fiscal Policy at the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, recently wrote for the Center’s website about how the lockdowns affected Michigan’s economy.

“Closing lots of businesses by government decree has a questionable effect on reducing the harms of COVID-19, but a clearer effect on unemployment,” Hohman said.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer | michigan.gov

A U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics survey revealed that Michigan’s lockdown had a deeper impact on the survival of businesses than those enacted in other states as well, Hohman said.

“One-third of Michigan’s workforce was subjected to a government-mandated closure,” Hohman said. “Only in Nevada were more people shut out of work by a government rule.”

In comparison, the nation as a whole only saw 21% of the workforce on the unemployment lines due to restrictions enacted in response to the coronavirus, accoding to Hohman.

While it may be unsurprising that in the short term, states with stricter lockdowns had higher unemployment rates, Hohman said the difference in unemployment rates as they correlated to strict lockdowns lingered months after restrictions were lifted.

“Governors have to make difficult decisions,” Hohman said. “More extreme lockdowns may have complicated effects to prevent the health harms of the pandemic, but they seem to have clearer effects on the economy.”

Hohman said the concerns are raised even as Gov. Gretchen Whitmer now begins to permit some businesses to reopen. Yet, that may be further complicated by confusion over not only what businesses are able to reopen, but the degree to which they are permitted to reopen.

“The governor is loosening her lockdown orders, though what is and isn’t allowed to open still seems confusing and inconsistent,” Hohman said.

Ultimately, it will be some time before anyone knows whether the actions taken are worth the consequences.