Chrysler adds 1,100 jobs in Detroit

Chrysler Group LLC announced Friday it would add nearly 1,100 workers at a Detroit factory because of expected demand for the redesigned Jeep Grand Cherokee sport utility vehicle.

Most of the workers will be new hires, which Chrysler said it would pay around $14 per hour.

That's about half the hourly wage rate of current factory workers represented by the United Auto Workers.

The workers will staff a second shift at the Jefferson North Assembly Plant.

Chrysler says the new vehicle is due in showrooms in June.

The announcement is good news for Michigan, which has the highest unemployment rate in the United States at 14 per cent.

The Grand Cherokee is Chrysler's first fully new vehicle since the Ram pickup was rolled out late in 2008.