UNIVERSITY CENTER, Mich. (AP) — Gov. Rick Snyder wants to tie retraining programs to companies' needs, erase barriers keeping welfare recipients from work and encourage more Michigan residents to earn math and science degrees under an initiative aimed at making workers more competitive in the global marketplace.

He unveiled his talent development plan Thursday at Delta College, the fifth in a series of policy addresses this year that have covered education, local government, health and infrastructure.

Noting that Michigan has "thousands of jobs" that remain empty because Michigan workers don't have the education or skills to fill them, Snyder said the state must drastically realign its education, job training and economic development systems. Only then will the state be able to drastically lower an unemployment rate that has hovered in double digits for more than two years.