State reports Michigan’s May unemployment rate dipped to 13.6 percent, down from 14 percent

Michigan’s May jobless rate dipped to 13.6 percent

LANSING, Mich. — Michigan’s unemployment rate continues to drift lower, settling in May at the same 13.6 percent rate it was a year ago, state officials said Wednesday.

The seasonally adjusted figure released by the state Department of Labor and Economic Growth is down nearly half a point from April’s nation-leading 14 percent rate. The national jobless rate for May was 9.7 percent.

May’s figures marked the fifth straight month that total employment has increased in Michigan, a trend that should lead to a net increase in jobs by the last quarter of the year if a University of Michigan forecast is correct.

Michigan State University economics professor Charles Ballard said state residents aren’t giving the economy a passing grade yet, but the falling unemployment rate is a hopeful sign.

“It’s still not as good as anybody would like, but it’s heading in the right direction, and I’m glad to see it,” he said.

The report says total nonfarm payroll jobs increased by 8,000 in May. The biggest gain was in the government sector, which added 7,000 jobs, mostly as temporary census workers were hired.

The second biggest job surge was in manufacturing, which added 6,000 positions between April and May. In the transportation equipment manufacturing area, the state has added 11,000 jobs over the past 12 months after big layoffs hit late last spring as General Motors Co. and Chrysler Group LLC went through bankruptcy proceedings.

The state also has added 15,000 professional and business services jobs over the past year and 14,000 jobs in education and health services. But 10,000 construction jobs have disappeared and there are 11,000 fewer leisure and hospitality services positions. Trade, transportation and utilities saw a 12,000-job annual drop.

The overall upward trend in 2010 “is in sharp contrast to 2009, a year marked with severe monthly job losses and consistently rising unemployment,” said Rick Waclawek, director of the state labor department’s Bureau of Labor Market Information.

The labor force has displayed steady growth so far in 2010 and the state in May posted a two-month gain in payroll jobs for the first time since late 2006. Seasonally adjusted average weekly hours and earnings in manufacturing increased 3.1 percent between April and May and were up 6.5 percent from a year ago.