The economy doesn’t look hopeful for those seeking Michigan jobs.
Michigan’s unemployment rate stayed at 8.5 percent in July, according to the Michigan Department of Labor & Economic Growth. The state’s total employment decreased by 29,000 jobs, while unemployment decreased by 4,000 jobs, meaning the state’s labor force decreased by 33,000 over the month. In July 2007, Michigan had an unemployment rate of 7.1 percent.
According to the State of Michigan, the state’s average annual unemployment rate in 2007 was 7.2 percent, while the average unemployment rate for the first seven months of 2008 was 7.7 percent. While total employment in Michigan has declined every month since the beginning of the year, the workforce has seen a loss of 59,000 jobs, or 1.2 percent.
Since July 2007, the unemployment rate has increased by 65,000 jobs or 18.4 percent, while national unemployment has increased by 23.1 percent. As of July 2007, Michigan employed 5,016,000 people and that number dropped to 4,957,000 in July of this year.
The Detroit metropolitan area saw an unemployment rate of 8.6 percent in July. Since July 2007, jobs in Detroit have decreased by 38,000 and unemployment has increased by 16,000.
Michigan payroll jobs in July decreased by 5,000 to a total of 4,213,000. From July 2007 to July 2008 payroll jobs have decreased by 49,000 or 1.1 percent.
The manufacturing and construction industries have seen the brunt of the job losses with 26,000 and 16,000, respectively. The leisure and hospitality services industry faced its first monthly job loss in July since April and has lost 2,000 jobs since July 2007. The financial activities industry has reported job losses every month since January and over the year has shown a total loss of 6,000 jobs.
Manufacturing jobs increased in July for the third straight month after strike-related layoffs occurred earlier in the year. The education and health services industry is perhaps the fastest-growing in Michigan, as employment increased slightly in July and the industry has added 4,000 jobs since January.
