Michigan had more people working in 2023 than at any time in the past two decades, and the job growth has continued into 2024, according to a new report from the state.
But the report says job openings have declined in the past few months, and the prospects for job growth over the coming eight years are slim.
Those conclusions come from the Michigan Annual Economics Analysis released by the Michigan Center for Data and Analytics on Monday.
The center calculated that Michigan had an annualized average of 4,850,000 jobs for the first six months of this year. That’s the highest total since 2001.
For the full year of 2023, Michigan’s unemployment rate averaged 3.9%, a low also not seen in the state since the turn of the century.
The strong jobs growth has also helped shrink a persistent employment gap between Black and white workers in the state. Prior to the pandemic, the unemployment rate for Black workers in Michigan hovered at a level about twice as high as that for white workers. In 2024, the gap has narrowed considerably. In the first half of 2024, the Center reports the Black unemployment rate stood at 5.5%, while the rate for white workers was at 3.6%.
The strongest job growth has been in the construction sector, followed by government jobs, then private education and health services, according to the report. Jobs in manufacturing declined.
But despite the strong rebound in the economy since the pandemic, the report says the outlook for growth statewide is less dramatic for the coming years. The report expects job growth of about 0.6% through 2032. That’s in part because Michigan’s population is only expected to grow by 0.9% in that same time period. The report also says without significant net in-migration to Michigan in the coming decades, the state will have a significantly lower population by 2050.
The full report is available online here.
