Michigan unemployment rate up to 4.7 percent

LANSING (AP) — Michigan’s unemployment rate rose by one-tenth of a percentage point to 4.7 percent in December while the size of the state’s workforce grew by 12,000 people.

Figures released last Thursday by the Michigan Department of Technology, Management & Budget show Michigan’s December’s employment rate was six-tenths of a percentage point above the national rate of 4.1 percent but four-tenths of a percentage point below the state’s December 2016 rate of 5.1 percent. The December 2017 jobless rate was the highest recorded in the state since April.

December also marked the fifth straight month that Michigan’s jobless rate increased.

Bureau of Labor Market Information and Strategic Initiatives Director Jason Palmer says Michigan’s jobless rate fell for an eighth straight year while payroll jobs rose for a seventh consecutive year.