Michigan’s monthly unemployment rate dipped slightly in October, and is down almost a full point from where it was at this time last year. It’s still higher than the national average.
The new jobless rate is 9.1%.
Bruce Weaver is an economist with the state Bureau of Labor Information. He says the state is adding thousands of jobs each month, but more people are also competing for jobs.
“So, essentially, what the state has recorded is a small rise in the size of the workforce since late last year and we’ve had some relatively modest job growth,” he says.
Manufacturing, temp services, and business services like I-T and accounting are adding jobs. Construction, retail, and local governments cut jobs over the past 12 months.
The state’s combined rate of unemployment and under-employment is also going down – it’s almost two points below where it was a year ago.