Another 424 are out of a job in Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s Michigan, the latest casualties in a state that shed 45,000 jobs in 2024.

Flagstar Bank filed a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification with the Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity detailing the permanent layoff of 424 employees from its Corporate Drive location in Troy between April 22 and May 9.

The layoffs are the result of the bank’s $1.3 billion sale of its mortgage business to Dallas-based Mr. Cooper, according to the Detroit Free Press.

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“In a statement, Mr. Cooper officials … told the Free Press that, as part of the sale, more than 500 Flagstar employees have since moved over from Flagstar and joined Mr. Cooper,” according to the news site. “But Mr. Cooper determined it doesn’t need as many Flagstar employees as first anticipated, so roughly 400 are being let go.”

The layoff of 424 are in addition to 175 Flagstar jobs in Michigan the company already agreed to cut as part of the sale.

“We are committed to being transparent and respectful during this time and are working in partnership with Flagstar to ensure team members are supported as they transition to the next phase of their careers,” the company said in a statement to the Free Press.

CBS News notes 113 Flagstar employees were laid off from the Troy location last fall, as were 60 at the company’s Jackson location during the summer.

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The Flagstar layoffs follow many others as Michigan’s unemployment rate continues to tick up, month after month, hitting 5% in December, according to the Michigan Department of Technology, Management and Budget.

“Michigan’s number of unemployed people increased by 21.7 percent over the year, a gain 12.7 percentage points larger than the growth in unemployed persons seen nationally (+9.0 percent),” according to the MDTMB.

A total of 252,000 Michiganders were unemployed in December, which translates to 45,000 more than the 207,000 unemployed in December 2023, and about 8,000 more than November.

December, the most recent month with available data, also marked the ninth straight month unemployment has increased in the Great Lakes State.

Incoming WARN notices suggest that trend is likely to continue over the coming months.

At least 14 large companies are slated to lay off a total of 1,998 employees in 10 counties by the end of April.

Those layoffs include companies like Akasol, a subsidiary of BorgWarner, which announced 200 job cuts last month as it shuts down its battery production facility in Hazel Park to move operations to South Carolina.

Another involves Michigan Spring & Stamping, which is shutting down its Muskegon operations and laying off 116 employees after 79 years as a “significant player” in the auto industry and others.

Plenty of other layoffs are tied to Michigan’s critical auto industry, as well, despite billions in tax dollars from Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s administration aimed at propping up EVs.

The WARN notices are pouring in at the same time Michigan business leaders are sounding the alarm over Whitmer’s plan to raise the state’s corporate income tax to generate revenue that she could use to fulfill her six-year-old campaign promise to “fix the damn roads.”

Whitmer announced a plan to squeeze Michigan businesses for $1.6 billion through a corporate income tax hike business leaders contend will only drive more businesses away.

“This increase penalizes the entire economy and creates a new challenge for doing business in Michigan,” Detroit Regional Chamber officials told MLive.

Whitmer has refused to reveal how high she wants to hike the business tax, but legislation introduced by Democrats in the House this week targets an 8.5% rate, which would put Michigan among the most expensive states in the U.S. to do business.

“We want to make sure a tax is necessary,” Chamber President Jim Holcomb told MLive. “We think there has to be more money in roads, absolutely, but we want to make sure that we’re using current resources. When you have over an $80 billion budget, we just want to make sure that the current resources are being properly allocated and then have a conversation of how best to move forward.”