The article Spark News posted yesterday highlighted the cities in the United States that are increasing their manufacturing employment numbers. The top cities included Houston and New York, but aside from Chicago the Midwest was particularly absent. However, according to an article posted in the San Francisco Chronicle, it’s the industrial growth and rebirth of the Midwest and Pennsylvania that is recovering much faster than the rest of the country.
It is the hope of President Barack Obama that this rebirth will strengthen his campaign run and swing the votes back in his Democratic favor. He even paid close attention to this area in his State of the Union address last Tuesday titling it “An America Built to Last” and maintaining a theme rooted in manufacturing revival across the country. Apparently, Midwest cities and their economies are doing much better than the rest of the country’s with the Michigan, Indiana and Ohio economies improving much faster than the other states. Furthermore, Michigan is expected to lead the nation in economic growth within the next six months.
Clay Williams, chief financial officer for Houston-based National Oilwell Varco Inc., is quoted saying, “We’re going back to a region we abandoned a long time ago to get energy again from rocks that were already drilled a thousand times. We’re going back to our roots.” This return to their roots and increased manufacturing and industrial growth is what’s fueling the improved unemployment rates in the Midwest, specifically Ohio and Michigan. Further emphasizing this, from the third-quarter of 2009 to the third-quarter of last year Michigan, Ohio and Indiana are all ranked among the top eight states for economic improvement. For those living and working in the Midwest, life hasn’t been so sweet in a while.
SOURCE: The San Francisco Chronicle
IMAGE: Courtesy of USGS
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