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Long-Suffering Michigan Is Finally Enjoying Below-Average Unemployment [The Wall Street Journal]
Michigan’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate last month was 4.8%, the Labor Department said Friday, remaining at its lowest level in 15 years and below the national average of 5%. It was the third consecutive month that Michigan had lower joblessness than the U.S. as a whole, a streak not seen since 2000.

Turning Circles For Indy [The Herald Bulletin]
The fact is, Indianapolis has its own identity, thank you very much, and shouldn’t be defined by what counts as cool elsewhere.

Offer Of Plastic Water Pipes To Flint Remains Untapped [Crain’s Detroit Business]
“You’d think a municipality so devastated over the last 40 years would do everything they can to maximize their financial resources, and yet they are not doing it. Why is that?”

Recent MSU Graduates Flock To Detroit To Start Careers [The State News]
“It’s almost like a duty, if you’re from Michigan, to move to Detroit now because it kind of needs us more than ever.”

Touring Pittsburgh, One Pierogi At A Time [The Wall Street Journal]
Some call it the Rust Belt, this constellation of deindustrialized cities and towns extending from western New York down through Pennsylvania and into West Virginia, Ohio, Michigan, Indiana and Illinois. To me, it’s the Pierogi Belt. And Pittsburgh is the buckle.

Can LeBron Deliver On His Promise To Akron’s Poor Kids? [FiveThirtyEight]
Today, 27 percent of Akron residents live in poverty. In several black neighborhoods, infant mortality is double the national rate. Poor children are overrepresented in the public schools, with 86 percent of students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch.

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Banner photo of Akron, OH by Jon Dawson.

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