Yesterday we received the good news about over 1,000 jobs on their way to West Michigan. Today the news is not good.  Michigan's unemployment rate went up to its highest rate this year.

The news is not good, but it may not be as bad as it sounds.

Michigan's unemployment rate was 10.9% in July.  The national rate of unemployment was 9.1% in July.  In July of 2010, Michigan's unemployment rate was 12.4%.

WZZM give us more details:

In July, the number of unemployed individuals in Michigan topped 500,000 for the first time since January.

After remaining stable in the first quarter of 2011, Michigan's workforce has declined since March. From July 2010 to July 2011, the state's labor force has dropped by 86,000 or 1.8 percent.

Since July 2010, unemployment in Michigan has fallen by 14 percent, which outpaced the national rate of decline of nearly 5 percent. Total employment levels in both the U.S. and Michigan have been little changed over this period.

There are many ways to spin the statistics which makes it hard to get a good read on things.  Let's hope that the long-term trend of lower unemployment continues.

 

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