Michigan's July jobless rate rises to 10.9 percent

By Kathy Barks Hoffman Associated Press LANSING (AP) -- Michigan's unemployment rate hit 10.9 percent in July, up 0.4 points from June but still significantly below last July's rate of 12.4 percent, the state reported Wednesday. The seasonally adjusted figures released by the Department of Technology, Management and Budget show that the number of jobless workers topped 500,000 for the first time since January and that the state's labor force dropped by 17,000 workers. Michigan's jobless rate remains above the national rate of 9.1 percent. Michigan led the nation with the highest unemployment rate for years, but has been recovering faster than the nation as a whole. Since July 2010, unemployment in Michigan has fallen by 14 percent, outpacing the national rate of decline of about 5 percent. Michigan had the nation's fifth-highest unemployment rate in June, tied with South Carolina and behind Nevada, California, Rhode Island and Florida. Comparative figures for July weren't available Wednesday. Despite the year-to-year improvement, total employment in the state fell by 33,000 in July, while the number of unemployed rose by 15,000. "Michigan's labor market indicators have shown only modest improvement so far in 2011," Rick Waclawek, director of the state's Bureau of Labor Market Information and Strategic Initiatives, said in a statement. He added that the unemployment rate has climbed every month since April, when it was 10.2 percent. It rose to 10.3 percent in May and 10.5 percent in June. Gov. Rick Snyder has been talking about job growth this week during a tour of the Upper Peninsula. A spokeswoman for him said Wednesday that the jobless rate rise is another reason the Republican governor wants to push ahead with changes to make Michigan a more business-friendly state. Most companies will benefit from $1.1 billion in annual business tax relief starting next year, an amount that will climb to $1.7 billion in 2013. "This reinforces why that is so crucial," spokeswoman Geralyn Lasher said of the climbing jobless rate. "We need to continue to be aggressive on all fronts. ... We want to see these numbers dramatically turn around." House Democratic Leader Richard Hammel of Genesee County's Mount Morris Township said Snyder's actions haven't helped those struggling to find a job. "The governor and legislative Republicans spent much of the first sixth months slashing social safety nets, cutting our children's education funding and shifting the tax burden onto seniors and working families to facilitate an 83 percent corporate tax cut," Hammel said in a statement. "What's worse is that, while our unemployment rate is rising, Republicans voted to slash unemployment benefits to our families by six weeks, the first state in the nation to do so." The report contained some bright spots. The stronger auto industry had fewer planned seasonal layoffs in July, causing transportation equipment jobs to increase by 13,000 and causing fewer layoffs at auto suppliers than normal. The state also saw a rise in government jobs in July, adding 12,000. But the report warned those figures probably were overstated, reflecting fewer seasonal cutbacks rather than positions added. "Government jobs have been in decline for a number of years, and the number of support staff in local education has been reduced," the monthly report said. "These individuals were again laid off this summer, but in smaller-than-typical levels." Professional and business services jobs dropped by 3,000, the sector's second consecutive monthly decline, although 18,000 more people are doing those jobs than a year ago. Other service jobs climbed by 2,000 in July. The number employed in education and health services rose by 3,000, as did the number employed in trade, transportation and utilities. The number employed in manufacturing rose by 5,000 last month and by 15,000 compared to July 2010. No construction jobs were added last month. The retail trade, leisure and hospitality services, information and natural resources and mining sectors were similarly flat. Published: Fri, Aug 19, 2011