Michigan Employment and Unemployment Rates Both Rise

The number of Michigan workers who had jobs increased in November, but the state’s unemployment rate rose nonetheless. The Michigan Department of Technology, Management and Budget’s preliminary figures showed that our state had 17,000 more workers on the job last month than in October. The number of people looking for work rose by a lightly larger number. That resulted in a seasonally adjusted unemployment rate of 4.6 percent. That’s a half-point above the national average, a half-point lower than November of 2016, and a tenth of a point higher October’s rate. It’s the third straight month in which Michigan’s unemployment rate has edged upward because of a larger available work force.