By Rick Pluta, Michigan Public Radio Network
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wkar/local-wkar-861346.mp3
EAST LANSING, MI – Michigan's jobless rate of 15.2% is again the highest in the nation. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics released the state rankings Friday morning.
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Fourteen states and the District of Columbia reported double-digit unemployment in August. But Michigan and its struggling manufacturing-centered economy remains well ahead of the rest of the pack. Michigan's rate is a full two percentage points higher than Nevada's rate of 13.2%. Rhode Island followed with a rate of 12.8%. The national unemployment rate is 9.7%.
Michigan also reported the largest increase in its unemployment rate over the past 12 months - a jump of 6.6 percentage points. The number of unemployed people in Michigan increased by 313,000 since August of 2008.
Michigan has had the nation's highest jobless rate for most of the past three and a half years.