Michigan Jobless Rate Up A Bit To 11.2%
LANSING (WWJ/AP) - Michigan's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate rose 0.3 percentage points to 11.2 percent in the latest monthly figures, the state announced Wednesday.
The state's unemployment rate in August continued to exceed the nationwide rate, which was 9.1 percent in August, according to the Michigan Department of Technology, Management & Budget. It said the jobless rate remains below the August 2010 rate of 12.2 percent.
Michigan's unemployment rate has been rising in recent months but remains below its recessionary peak of 14.1 percent in fall 2009. It stood at 10.2 percent in April.
"With the recent slowdown in the national economy, Michigan's unemployment rate has edged upward since April, but still remains below 2010 levels," Rick Waclawek, director of the Bureau of Labor Market Information and Strategic Initiatives, said in a statement. "In August, small job reductions in manufacturing and retail were countered by a modest job gain in construction."
The rise in joblessness comes even as the number of people in the state's work force falls. There were 4.69 million civilians working or actively seeking work last month, compared with 4.78 million one year earlier. The work force fell by 52,000, or 1.1 percent, from March to August, the department said.
Through August, Michigan's seasonally adjusted jobless rate averaged 10.6 percent, compared with 12.5 percent for all of 2010, the department said.
At the HiredMyWay.com Career Expo in Novi, WWJ's Stephanie Davis spoke with Wade Hampton of Ann Arbor, out looking for a job in computer techonology.
"There's positions that I'm looking for that are becoming available. They're not necessairly in the Ann Arbor area, but that doesn't bother me," said Hampton.
"I've actualy been searching about about three or four years, but I've picked up jobs here and there through contacts and friends," he said.
More than 3,000 people re-regiustered for the expo, part of WWJ's Igniting Innovation in Michigan event Wednesday at the Suburban Collection Showplace.
(Didn't make it to the career fair? Go to HiredMyWay.com and fill free profile to apply to jobs listed by more than 70 companies that took part in the event.)
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
