Michigan’s seasonally adjusted unemployment dropped slightly in June to 5% — a decrease of one-tenth of a percentage point since May. The monthly jobs report was released Thursday by the Michigan Department of Technology, Management and Budget.
The state’s jobless rate has been pretty stable since June of last year as it has hovered between 4.9% and 5.1%. Michigan Labor Market Information Director Wayne Rourke said the modest decline last month is due largely to Michigan’s shrinking workforce – mostly older workers retiring and not being replaced by younger workers.
“The labor force participation rate is kind of something we expected to see as our population gets older and people age into retirement,” he told Michigan Public Radio. “You know, they’re expected to leave the workforce and participation is going to drop for any state that’s getting an older population and not replacing the younger workers.”
Those workforce issues linger even as Michigan appears to be attracting residents, according to the U.S. Census and Governor Gretchen Whitmer.
“Michigan’s demographics are going to put a speed limit on growth,” said University of Michigan economist Gabriel Ehrlich. “The thing that concerns me is the count of employed Michigan residents and the size of Michigan’s labor force are both falling substantially.”
The June jobs report said Michigan’s leisure and hospitality, and government sectors grew the most over the past 12 months, while professional and business services, manufacturing, and construction showed the biggest declines.
