This news comes from Michigan's Department of Technology, Management and Budget. Their data comes from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics:
Michigan’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in December declined by half a percentage point to 9.3 percent... Total employment increased by 13,000 over the month and the number of unemployed fell by 25,000. The state’s workforce declined by 12,000 in December... “Michigan’s jobless rate fell again in December, as the state added jobs in professional and technical services and manufacturing,” said Rick Waclawek, director of the Bureau of Labor Market Information and Strategic Initiatives. “For 2011 as a whole, the state recorded a significant decline in the unemployment rate and a modest gain in payroll jobs.”
The "unemployment rate" is calculated by the number of people who have actively been looking for work in the last four weeks.
Michigan’s rate of unemployment AND under-employment is 18.8 percent. The "under-employment" numbers take into account people who have quit looking along with part-time workers who’d like to be full-time.
