Unemployment up in all of state's 12 Labor Markets

[Allan]

January unemployment up in all of state's 12 labor markets

Friday, March 19, 2004

ASSOCIATED PRESS

LANSING -- Seasonally unadjusted unemployment rates rose in all of the state's 12 labor markets in January, according to figures released Friday by the state Department of Labor & Economic Growth.

The number of people working and the number working or available for work fell seasonally in most major areas from December to January, the agency said.

The largest increases in jobless rates were in northeast Lower Michigan (11.3 percent in December to 12.4 percent in January), Flint (9.2 percent in December to 10.1 percent in January) and Saginaw-Bay City-Midland (8.1 percent in December to 8.8 percent in January).

Unemployment increased by 0.1 to 0.5 of a percentage point in the other nine areas.

The number of seasonally unadjusted payroll jobs in Michigan fell in January by 132,000 to 4.3 million. The lost jobs included those in retail (28,000), government (25,000), construction (21,000) and professional and business services (15,000).

The state said earlier this month that Michigan's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate fell from 7.6 percent in December to 6.6 percent in January. The national, adjusted rate was 5.6 percent in both January and February.

The state's major labor market areas, their seasonally unadjusted unemployment rates for January and the change since December 2003 were:

Ann Arbor, 4.2 percent, up from 3.9 percent

Benton Harbor, 8 percent, up from 7.5 percent

Detroit, 7.6 percent, up from 7.1 percent

Flint, 10.1 percent, up from 9.2 percent

Grand Rapids-Muskegon-Holland, 7.3 percent, up from 7.2 percent

Jackson, 7.7 percent, up from 7.6 percent

Kalamazoo-Battle Creek, 6.6 percent, up from 6.4 percent

Lansing, 5.2 percent, up from 4.8 percent

Saginaw-Bay-Midland, 8.8 percent, up from 8.1 percent

Upper Peninsula, 8.6 percent, up from 8.3 percent

Northeast Lower Michigan, 12.4 percent, up from 11.3 percent

Northwest Lower Michigan, 9 percent, up from 8.5 percent

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