Michigan jobless rate ranks 4th-highest in U.S.
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
Michigan had the country's fourth-highest unemployment rate last month as job-seekers across the country face grim prospects.
The big picture: Americans are feeling almost as gloomy about the job market as they did during the Great Recession — and entry-level workers are having an especially hard time getting their foot in the door.
Zoom in: Michigan's 5.3% July unemployment rate trails only Washington, D.C. (6%), California (5.5%) and Nevada (5.4%), according to seasonally adjusted data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
- The national rate was 4.2%.
What they're saying: Our unemployment rate held steady from last month, Wayne Rourke, labor market information director for Michigan's Center for Data and Analytics, said in a statement.
- Small decreases in employment and unemployment caused the state's workforce to drop slightly.
- "Seasonally adjusted payroll jobs rose slightly over the month due to a majority of industries remaining stable or showing slight job additions," he said.
Context: Michigan's unemployment rate has been relatively flat for the last three months, but it's up a half-percentage point from July 2024.
Yes, but: Some industries increased jobs over the past year.
- The largest gains were in private education and health services (22,000 more jobs), government (13,000 more), and construction (10,000 more), according to the state.
Zoom out: Michigan may be an unemployment leader among states, but the job market is in bad shape generally, Axios' Emily Peck writes.
- Workers are feeling high levels of job anxiety. There's also increasing fear that AI will come for their jobs.
- Tens of thousands of federal workers faced layoffs this summer as part of President Trump's government-efficiency push, although some agencies have since scaled back plans to cut jobs.
The bottom line: The good news is that the unemployment rate is still relatively low, and, outside the federal government, so are layoffs.