Michigan’s unemployment rate edged up slightly in June to 4.1 percent. It’s the first time this year the jobless number has gone up, but the state’s top labor analyst said an uptick was clearly on the way.
“Coming out of the pandemic, we were recovering jobs very quickly,” said Michigan Labor Market Information Director Wayne Rourke. “Now we’re on a more-normal pace, it appears.”
Michigan’s unemployment rate was 3.9 percent for the previous four months.
Michigan’s manufacturing lost roughly 3,000 jobs, according to the report. The retail; hospitality and leisure; trade, transportation and utilities; and financial activities sectors also lost jobs in June. Meanwhile, the professional and business services and health care sectors posted a combined 4,000 new jobs.
Michigan’s number tracks with the national rate in June, which was also 4.1 percent, an increase of 0.1 of a percentage point.
Rourke said inflation may have helped cool the jobs market in June, but it will take months to discern whether this reflects a fluctuation or the start of a trend.
“We’re just waiting to see if this is some sort of turning point or if it’s just some sort of cooling off of the labor market as was expected after recovery from the pandemic and inflation and all that happening in the last few months,” he said. “So that’s kind of what we’re watching right now on a month-to-month basis.”
Over the year, the government sector — which includes public education workers — and health services/private education added a combined 38,000 positions. The state’s construction sector posted a substantial 7.6 percent increase over the year.
