By AP
DETROIT – DETROIT (AP) - A regional planning agency says the automotive industry's restructuring has cut the number of manufacturing jobs in southeast Michigan by nearly half since 2000.
The Southeast Michigan Council of Governments says employment in transportation equipment manufacturing -- comprising vehicle and parts-making -- has fallen by 59 percent alone.
The report says the seven-county region has lost more than 446,000 hourly and salary jobs, an 18 percent decline in employment.
The bankruptcies of General Motors and Chrysler are expected to increase unemployment in the region. The seasonally unadjusted jobless rate in the Detroit-Warren-Livonia labor market was 13.6 percent in April.