Michigan – In Michigan, the unemployment rate for the last two months of the year didn’t change, staying at 4.3%. The average unemployment rate for 2023 was lower than it was in 2019, before the coronavirus outbreak.
The Michigan Department of Technology, Management and Budget recently shared these updated jobless figures for December, which are adjusted for seasonal changes.
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Dylan Schafer, an economic manager at the Michigan Center for Data and Analytics, commented on this. He believes Michigan is doing better now. He noted that many industries are growing and people are finding it easier to join the workforce and get jobs.
“So, right now, we have been seeing overall increases in numerous industries and we’re showing that individuals are not having issues entering the labor force and they’re not having issues finding work at this time,” Dylan Schafer said.
Schafer explained to Michigan Public Radio that the unemployment rates for November and December stayed about the same. This was because the number of people joining the workforce was almost equal to the number of people being hired.
He mentioned that businesses know there’s a need for workers, and it looks like Michigan’s workforce is responding by actively seeking jobs.
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The way they count the workforce is by adding together the people who have jobs and those who are jobless but looking for work. In December, the data showed that about 8,000 more people got jobs, while the workforce increased by around 9,000.
In 2023, nearly 4.8 million people were part of Michigan’s workforce. The biggest job growth was in government jobs and in education and health services.