By Rick Pluta, Michigan Public Radio Network
EAST LANSING, MI – Michigan still has the nation's highest jobless rate.
Michigan's unemployment rate in May was 14.1%. The US Department of Labor's ranking of states says that was the again the highest jobless rate in the U-S. It's a distinction Michigan's held for 25 of the past 26 months.
Second on the list is Oregon. The entire Pacific northwest is struggling, and Oregon hit a state record last month. But its rate of 12.4% was still well below Michigan's. Both states are struggling with declining manufacturing sectors. Michigan's auto industry is declining. Oregon is seeing a drop in building wood products and computers and electronics.
But the news was bad all over the country as 48 eight states and Washington DC posted unemployment increases in May. Economists say improved unemployment numbers often trail after the rest of an economic recovery.