Study: Michigan's recovery will take years

WASHINGTON, Nov. 11 (UPI) -- The Pew Center, a Washington think tank, said it would likely take 15 to 20 years for Michigan to regain the jobs it has lost since 2000.

A report on the Great Lake state's finances said, "Michigan's recovery is going to be a long haul."

Rocked by a collapse in the automotive industry that predates the recession by six years, "even if the state were to immediately begin growing at the rapid rates of the 1990s, it would be 2025 or 2030 before it replaced all the jobs it lost this decade," the report said.

Michigan is expected to lose 1 million jobs this decade, the Detroit News reported Wednesday.

The report said California, which attempted unsuccessfully to secure a $7 billion federal loan, was "in a league of its own," regarding the state of its finances.

After that, Arizona, Florida, Illinois, Nevada, New Jersey, Oregon, Rhode Island, Wisconsin and Michigan make up the second tier of states in financial trouble, the report said.