What's great to me is that we're building jobs, and we're really building northern Michigan's brand. We're helping the economy here.

Small to midsize companies are the ones adding jobs to the economy. But you also have to look outside the Rochester region for business.

Those jobs look fairly good going into 2006. We won't see a lot of hiring there, but the economy looks strong enough to maintain level of employment we have.

I'm the one who can make an economy grow. All he knows how to do is chase jobs away.

The administration projected the economy would gain 306,000 new jobs each month once the tax package was passed. So far, this has been a profound failure.

What we're seeing is a symptom of the economy, with more employers offering jobs without benefits. Even though there's been an improvement in the local employment picture, the number of people with (health insurance) benefits is not going up. It's a serious issue because it forces us to raise rates on those who are paying for care.