The Economy

Michigan is predominantly an industrial state, with about 25 per cent of the labor force employed in manufacturing. Michigan is the leading manufacturer of automobiles in the United States. The production of transportation equipment, machinery, and various other metal products ranks among the state's most important manufacturing products. Detroit is Michigan's chief manufacturing center.

Tourism has been a major source of income for many years. Michigan hosts millions of tourists, who are attracted to the many lakes for fishing and other water sports. Camping, winter sports, and hunting are also popular.

The making of transportation equipment, machinery, and various other metal products are the chief activities in terms of value and employment. The economies of a number of cities, including Detroit, Flint, Lansing, and Pontiac, rely heavily on automobile manufacturing and related industries. Processed foods, chemicals, and pharmaceuticals are also major products. The making of specialized goods, such as furniture in Grand Rapids and breakfast foods in Battle Creek, adds diversity to the state's manufacturing activities. Michigan's economy is usually hard-hit by national economic slumps, mainly because auto sales decline.

Most of the best farmland is in the southern part of the state. Dairying is significant in parts of the upper peninsula and northern lower peninsula. Farm income is derived almost equally from crops and livestock. The chief farm commodities are dairy products, corn, cattle, and soybeans. Also valuable are hay, wheat, sugar beets, and vegetables. The fruit-growing region along Lake Michigan produces apples, cherries, grapes, and blueberries. Flower bulbs, particularly tulip bulbs, grown around Holland, are among the specialty crops.

Mining, Forestry, and Fishing. Michigan usually ranks among the top dozen states in the value of its mineral production. Petroleum, iron ore, and natural gas are the most valuable commodities. Michigan has long been a chief producer of iron ore, which is mined predominantly in the western part of the upper peninsula. Petroleum comes mainly from the central part of Lower Michigan. Among the other minerals are copper, gypsum, sand and gravel, magnesium compounds, salt, and stone.

Michigan was a large producer of saw-timber until about 1900, when production declined drastically due to overcutting. Today, lumbering is carried on mainly in the upper peninsula, where it is an important activity. Forests, including farm woodlots, cover about half of the state. Scientific management and reforestation are helping to rejuvenate the state's timberlands.

Michigan's fish catch makes up a large part of the total from the Great Lakes, both in quantity and value. On a national scale, however, Michigan is a small producer, as the Great Lakes' fisheries account for a minor share of the nation's catch. Whitefish is the most valuable species caught.

A great number of highways, including several Interstate routes, serve the lower peninsula. The upper peninsula has fewer roads and highways. Railways are most extensive in the southern portion of the state. The upper and lower peninsulas are connected by the Mackinac Bridge, one of the world's longest suspension bridges. The Windsor Tunnel and a number of bridges connect Michigan with Ontario, Canada. The main airport is Detroit Metropolitan.

Michigan has several ports for domestic and foreign shipping. Foreign trade developed after the opening of the St. Lawrence Seaway in 1959. Large amounts of bulk cargo, especially iron ore and grain, pass through the Sault Ste. Marie Canal, which links Lake Huron with Lake Superior. Detroit is the chief port. There is ferry service between Ludington and Kewaunee, Wisconsin.