Michigan jobless rate ticks up again

LANSING, Mich. (AP) - The state says seasonally unadjusted unemployment rates increased in most regions of Michigan in May as seasonal workers sought jobs.

The figures released Thursday by the Department of Technology, Management & Budget show jobless rates increased in 14 of the state's 17 major regional labor markets compared with April.

Statewide, the unadjusted jobless rate in May was 8.5%, up from 8.3% in April.

Rates ranged from a low of 5.5% in the Ann Arbor region to a high of 10.2% in the northeastern Lower Peninsula.

Statewide, job gains were reported in leisure and hospitality services; trade, transportation and utilities; and construction.

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Michigan's major labor market areas, their seasonally unadjusted jobless rates for May, followed by April:

-- Ann Arbor, 5.5 percent, compared with 5 percent.
-- Battle Creek, 7 percent, compared with 6.8 percent.
-- Bay City, 8.2 percent, compared with 8 percent.
-- Detroit-Warren-Livonia, 9.9 percent, compared with 8.7 percent.
-- Flint, 8.9 percent, compared with 8.6 percent.
-- Grand Rapids-Wyoming, 6.6 percent, compared with 6.3 percent.
-- Holland-Grand Haven, 6.4 percent, compared with 6.1 percent.
-- Jackson, 8 percent, compared with 7.7 percent.
-- Kalamazoo-Portage, 7.2 percent, compared with 6.8 percent.
-- Lansing-East Lansing, 6.8 percent, compared with 6.4 percent.
-- Monroe, 7.8 percent, compared with 7.6 percent.
-- Muskegon-Norton Shores, 8.5 percent, compared with 8.3 percent.
-- Niles-Benton Harbor, 8.6 percent, compared with 8.2 percent.
-- Saginaw-Saginaw Township North, 8.3 percent, compared with 8 percent.
-- Upper Peninsula, 8.5 percent, compared with 9 percent.
-- Northeast Lower Michigan, 10.2 percent, compared with 11.3 percent.
-- Northwest Lower Michigan, 8.9 percent, compared with 9.7 percent.
 -- Michigan, 8.6 percent, compared with 8 percent.

Source: Michigan Department of Technology, Management & Budget

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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.