This development certainly shouldn't be taken as an indication that Michigan's employment situation has improved or that the topic has gone away as a political issue. It hasn't.
Instead, it's a sign that the state now has other problems that are just as troubling. Those include a $800 million budget shortfall and a looming structural imbalance if lawmakers don't create a replacement for the business tax they eliminated last year. That explains why Granholm mentioned "budget" 14 times and "tax" or "taxes" or "taxpayers" 22 times.
Granholm also referred to "naysayers" 4 times. She was either talking about horses or Republican legislators who will oppose tax increases.
