Big April drop in Mich jobless rates

LANSING, Mich. (AP) - Michigan reports that the seasonally unadjusted unemployment rate dropped a full percentage point statewide and fell in all major labor markets.

The April figures released Thursday show joblessness statewide at 8%, compared with 9% in March and 10.1% in April 2011.

State labor analysts say April's drop was typical with seasonal hiring throughout most of the state. The reductions were highest in the northernmost labor markets as hiring began for the summer tourism season.

Seasonally adjusted joblessness has been falling for months in Michigan. Eight of the state's metropolitan regions report unemployment rates at or below the national seasonally adjusted rate of 7.7%

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Unemployment benefits do not define the statewide unemployment rate, state officials have told 24 Hour News 8 .  The rate is based on interviews with what officials calculate to be a representative sample of residents. But if a person who exhausts benefits stops looking for work, he or she does disappear from the ranks of the unemployed.