So, looking through various sources some of the scariest headlines for Detroit (as recently as last year) are "Detroit Unemployment Reaches Nearly 50%" and "Detroit Job Outlook Grim", as a job hunter in the area (or even an employed person who is not) these are terrifying headlines. When looking at the data from the Detroit-Livonia-Dearborn, MI U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics things don't actually look THAT bad - but they are certainly not what would be considered good. The unemployment rate from June 2010 through the projected numbers of November 2010 actually got better with a high of 16.5% to the current projected November 2010 statistic of 13%. This is good news, right? Well... maybe not.

So I don't have a degree in labor statistics but what I think this shows (pretty clearly) is that the economy of Detroit is so bad that the unemployed at just giving up and leaving. After all, if you were in what is considered by some, to be one of the worst places to live wouldn't being unemployed just give you that final push to leave? I bet the reason it got lower was also due to a number of the people dying (from crime or otherwise) - but that's just my guess.

I like to call this recipe Detroit Michigan "Unemployment Surprise" when you mix high unemployment, crime, and poverty with a population of people who just needed an extra push to "get out of dodge". Just mix and see what happens! I wonder if this will work with other cities...