LANSING, Mich. — Michigan’s unemployment rate fell again in March to 4.4% as businesses continue to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.
"This rate is is quite low by historical standards," said Bruce Weaver, an economic analyst with the Michigan Department of Technology, Management and Budget.
The total number of employed people in Michigan grew by 29,000 in March and the number of unemployed fell by 14,000 over the same period. That means the state added roughly 15,000 jobs that month.
The leisure and hospitality industry led the increases, and the state’s education and health services sector was the only area where Michigan saw a minor job reduction compared with last year.
"So our rate of 4.4% in March is still slightly above where it was back in February of 2020. But our unemployment rate is getting relatively close to where it was prior to the pandemic," he said.
Michigan still lags just slightly behind the national unemployment rate which declined 0.2 percentage points in March to 3.6%.
