LANSING, MI (MPRN)-- Michigan’s monthly unemployment rate has dropped by 0.3 of a percentage point to 7.4 percent.
The drop in the jobless rate was due mostly to fewer people in the workforce competing for jobs. The state Bureau of Labor Market Information says rain and heavy flooding in metro Detroit last month may have curtailed many people’s job searches.
There was a modest gain in the number of people looking for work since this time a year ago, when the jobless rate was 1.6 percent higher at 9 percent. Manufacturing, hospitality, and transportation posted the biggest gains over the past 12 months.
The state’s rate of unemployment and underemployment is 14.2 percent. That number also counts people who’ve quit looking for work as well as part-timers who’d like to be full-time.