Michigan unemployment rate falls again

LANSING, Mich. (AP) - The state says seasonally unadjusted unemployment rates have decreased in 14 of Michigan's 17 major labor markets.

The figures for November were released Tuesday. Rates declined everywhere except the Upper Peninsula and parts of the northern Lower Peninsula.

The unemployment increases were seasonal and reflect the end of the fall tourism season.

The statewide unadjusted jobless rate was 8.4%, down from 9.2% in October.

Rates range from a low of 5.2% in the Ann Arbor region to a high of 10.6% in the northeast part of the Lower Peninsula.

Unemployment rates in every region are lower than a year ago.

County unemployment rates range from a low of 5.2% in Washtenaw County to a high of 16% in Baraga County.

-----

-- Ann Arbor, 5.2%, compared with 5.7%.
-- Battle Creek, 6.9%, compared with 7.6%.
-- Bay City, 7.4%, compared with 7.9%.
-- Detroit-Warren-Livonia, 9.5%, compared with 10.8%.
-- Flint, 8.7%, compared with 9.4%.
-- Grand Rapids-Wyoming, 6.5%, compared with 7.1%.
-- Holland-Grand Haven, 6.5%, compared with 7%.
-- Jackson, 7.8%, compared with 8.4%.
-- Kalamazoo-Portage, 6.9%, compared with 7.4%.
-- Lansing-East Lansing, 6.4%, compared with 6.7%.
-- Monroe, 7.5%, compared with 8.1%.
-- Muskegon-Norton Shores, 8.4%, compared with 9%.
-- Niles-Benton Harbor, 8.2%, compared with 8.3%.
-- Saginaw-Saginaw Township North, 7.7%, compared with 8.1%.
-- Upper Peninsula, 8.2%, compared with 7.9%.
-- Northeast Lower Michigan, 10.6%, compared with 10.1%.
-- Northwest Lower Michigan, 9.4%, compared with 9.1%.
-- Michigan, 8.4%, compared with 9.2%.

Source: Michigan Department of Technology, Management and Budget

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.