Michigan’s May Jobless Rate Up a Little
Posted on | June 15, 2011 | No Comments
Unemployment in Michigan in May rose to 10.3 percent, up slightly from April’s 10.2 percent rate.
Most of the jobs were lost in three areas:
- Government jobs. More than 8,000 of them disappeared in May. Some of those were U.S. Census jobs that ended and some
were local government jobs. Declining property tax rates have forced local governments to get leaner. - Leisure and hospitality jobs. More than 5,000 of these disappeared as people tightened their budgets and spent less money on recreation.
- Education and health services. More than 3,000 jobs were lost in another example of belt-tightening in the public arena.
Overall, this doesn’t appear to be a terrible employment snapshot. Unemployment was up only .01 percent compared to April, and the state’s unemployment rate was just a little above the U.S. rate in May of 9.1 percent. Compared to May 2010, joblessness has declined 2.5 percentage points from a rate of 12.8 percent. Since the meltdown in September 2009, Michigan’s unemployment rate has fallen by nearly 4 percentage points.
In comparison to May 2010, private sector jobs in Michigan increased by 70,000 or 2.2 percent. Among the winners are construction and manufacturing production workers whose employment numbers, wages and hours are all up compared to May 2010. The construction news is particularly good with 4,000 jobs added this past month.
If you’re a Michigan job hunter, be grateful. This news could be a whole lot worse.
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