Mich unemployment rate falls in Oct

LANSING, Mich. (AP) - Authorities say Michigan's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate fell 0.2 percentage points in the latest month to 9.1%.

The Michigan Department of Technology, Management and Budget released the October jobless figures Wednesday. The nation's October unemployment rate was 7.9%, up from 7.8% in September.

The department says Michigan's workforce reached a 2012 high of 4.67 million in October.

The state's jobless has fallen 0.8 percentage points over 12 months from an October 2011 level of 9.9%. The rate rose in four straight months from April's 8.3% to August's 9.4%, before edging down to 9.3% in September.

Michigan says total employment in the state rose by a seasonally adjusted 13,000 in October to 4.25 million.

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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.