688,701 with about 10K loss or about 1.5% loss year over year gives the appearance of slowing losses. 2013 - 2014 figures might surprise us by showing population loss as flat, fueled by an improving economy and city image.

Detroit— The 60-year exodus from Detroit is continuing but may be slowing, as the city’s population has fallen under 700,000 residents, according to estimates released today by the U.S. Census Bureau.

The government pegs the city’s population at 688,701 as of summer 2013, down nearly 10,000 residents from 2012. The rate of decline, though, has slowed to an average of 7,500 per year since 2010 compared with 24,000 per year in the 2000s.

Suburban counties — Oakland, Macomb and Livingston — gained about 1 percent in population, while Wayne County lost about 1 percent, the records show. Its decline is fueled largely by Detroit, which had 1.9 million residents in 1950 and is now smaller than it was at any point since before 1920.

From The Detroit News: http://www.detroitnews.com/article/2...#ixzz32RkhnR2w