By Rick Pluta, Michigan Public Radio Network
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wkar/local-wkar-925056.mp3
LANSING, MI –
Michigan's monthly jobless rate of 13.1% remains the second-highest in the country. As we hear from Michigan Public Radio's Rick Pluta, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics says only Nevada's rate of 14.4% is higher.
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Nevada passed Michigan in May. Michigan's jobless rate has settled, and has even inched down since the beginning of the year. Governor Granholm says she expects the pace of progress will improve in the coming year - after she's left office -- as more businesses respond to the state's tougher education standards, worker re-training, and tax breaks and other incentives aimed at advanced batteries, alternative energy, and other targeted industries.
"The strategy of public-private partnerships in this global economy to make a good business case for these companies to locate in Michigan is very critical," she says.
The governor was in New York to address the Clinton Global Initiative on Michigan's economic turnaround efforts. The governor also used the trip to try to interest some venture capital firms in Michigan.