April 10, 2025
The U.S. Department of Labor Employment and Training Administration’s Characteristics of Unemployment Insurance Claimants reports the demographic, occupation, and industry information for those filing continued unemployment insurance claims. This monthly data reflects claims filed for the week containing the 12th of the month, the same reference week the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics uses for unemployment rate estimates. While many who are unemployed do not claim unemployment benefits for a variety of reasons, continued claims data can provide insight into the demographic and industrial trends among those who are unemployed.
Continued claims in Michigan spiked dramatically at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic—peaking at just under one million in May 2020. Although continued claims began to decline steadily thereafter, they remained elevated throughout 2020 and early 2021 before nearing pre-pandemic levels by the start of 2022.
Total Continued Unemployment Insurance Claims, Michigan
Source: U.S. Employment and Training Administration
Continued claims data exhibit seasonal fluctuations. These fluctuations are due to regular, predictable occurrences such as the end of the construction or holiday retail seasons or the temporary slowdown and plant closures in automotive manufacturing during the summer months.
Analyzing over-the-year changes in unemployment claims can help identify emerging trends in the labor market while accounting for seasonal fluctuations in the claims data. Generally, extended periods of positive (negative) over-the-year percent changes in continued claims correspond with periods of increasing (decreasing) trends in the unemployment rate. This correlation was exhibited throughout 2023 and 2024 as continued claims began to see consistent, often large, over-the-year increases between May 2023 and December 2024. Over this period, the state unemployment rate also rose from 3.7 to 5.2 percent, contrasting with the declining trend that had marked the post-pandemic recovery period until that point.
Over-the-Year Percent Change in Continued Claims vs. Seasonally Adjusted Unemployment Rate, Michigan
Source: U.S. Employment and Training Administration; Local Area Unemployment Statistics, Michigan Center for Data and Analytics
The stark increase in the unemployment rate and continued unemployment insurance claims in 2024 hint at changes occurring in the labor market. While the relationship between continued claims and the unemployment rate is not perfect, continued claims data by industry can help unpack broader economic trends impacting the labor market, particularly regarding layoffs.
Michigan’s Manufacturing industry saw substantial over-the-year increases in continued claims in the latter half of 2024, often ranking in the top 10 among states for largest increase over this period. The chart below breaks down the 2023–2024 over-the-year percent change in total continued claims into the portion attributable to the Manufacturing industry and the portion due to all other industries combined. Throughout 2024, Manufacturing accounted for at least half of the over-the-year increase in eight months. Focusing on July and October, the two months with the highest increases, total continued claims increased by 20.3 and 34.4 percent over the year due to Manufacturing alone. Apart from Manufacturing, continued claims in July and October increased by just 13.4 and 3.3 percent, respectively.
Contribution to Over-the-Year Change in Continued Unemployment Insurance Claims, 2023–2024
Source: U.S. Employment and Training Administration
Much of the increase in continued claims throughout 2024 is connected to the Manufacturing industry. With several manufacturers announcing layoffs and plant/facility closures throughout 2024, this is not entirely surprising. However, given the importance of Manufacturing to Michigan’s economy and the continued uncertainty facing the automotive industry, understanding the industry’s impact on the state’s labor market will continue to be important.
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