Michigan’s unemployment rate has edged upward for the third month in a row hitting 9%.
The number of unemployed job seekers in Michigan jumped slightly from 418 thousand to 425 thousand. That brings the state’s jobless rate back to where it was at the beginning of the year.
The increase was due almost entirely to job losses and not to people rejoining the workforce and boosting competition for existing positions.
The 12-month picture is a little rosier. The jobless rate is three-tenths of percentage point below where it was at this time last year. That’s driven largely by hiring in manufacturing, business services, hospitality, and retail.
When people who’ve given up looking for work are counted, along with part-timers who’d like to be full-time, Michigan’s rate of unemployment and under-employment is 15.8%.
