Michigan’s seasonally adjusted was 5.0% in September, unchanged from August, the state reported on October 15. The U.S. rate was 4.2%, so Michigan’s rate was 0.8 percentage points higher. A year earlier, Michigan’s rate was 4.9%. [1]
The rate held steady even as the workforce shrank. Employment fell by 27,000 to 4,585,000 and the labor force fell by 26,000 to 4,826,000, while the number of unemployed residents rose by 1,000 to 241,000. Labor force participation slipped three-tenths of a point to 58.5%. [1]
The separate employer survey showed 4,487,000 jobs, down 6,000 over the month and 2,000 above a year earlier. Private education and health services lost 4,000 jobs in September, while construction and manufacturing each added about 1,000. Over the year, government added 15,000 jobs and professional and business services lost 8,000. “Michigan’s labor market cooled as payroll jobs dipped in the third quarter,” Wayne Rourke said in the state’s release. [1]
In the Detroit-Warren-Dearborn metro area, the rose to 5.5% from 5.4% in August and from 4.8% a year earlier. [1]
Household employment and payroll jobs come from different surveys and should not be added together. The September figures describe a past month and can be revised. [1]