Michigan’s unemployment rate in December declined another half-percentage point to 9.3%, the state’s lowest rate since the 8.9% recorded in September 2008. As predicted by economists, the year-end data confirmed that 2011 marked the first year of positive net job growth in Michigan since 2000, ending a “lost decade” when the state lost jobs every year. The state added 67,000 net new jobs in 2011, the bulk of which were in professional and business services and manufacturing, reflecting the resurgence of the automotive industry.
“Michigan’s jobless rate fell again in December, as the state added jobs in professional and technical services and manufacturing,” said Rick Waclawek, director of the state’s Bureau of Labor Market Information and Strategic Initiatives. “For 2011 as a whole, the state recorded a significant decline in the unemployment rate and a modest gain in payroll jobs.”
As always, the monthly jobless numbers reflected a complex and changing labor market. Clearly that market is still far from full recovery. The latest data show that about 100,000 Michiganders left the workforce over the past 12 months – retired, gone back to school, moved out of state, or simply gave up looking for a job.
