March 10, 2025
Total private employment in the Upper Peninsula (U.P.) Michigan Works! area has inched up 2.0 percent from 2nd quarter 2015 to 2nd quarter 2024. Employment measured just under 83,500 in 2024. Growth in the region since 2015 trailed that of the state, which saw employment increase 6.6 percent over the period.
Since 2015, Professional and business services saw employment expand by nearly 1,100 (21.3 percent), the largest increase among industry sectors. Manufacturing had the second largest employment addition at 1,000 jobs or 9.0 percent. Other notable gains were recorded in Construction (600 jobs, 9.8 percent) and Leisure and hospitality (600 jobs, 4.5 percent).
Information and Financial activities declined 20.5 percent and 11.8 percent, respectively, over the period. These sectors observed a combined loss of more than 700 jobs.
Trade, transportation, and utilities, which grew by only 1.4 percent since 2nd quarter 2015, was the largest industry sector in the U.P., accounting for almost one-quarter of private employment regionally. Over the period, Leisure and hospitality (16.7 percent) has grown from the third largest industry sector to the second largest, overtaking Education and health services (15.8 percent) which dropped to third. Manufacturing followed in fourth at 14.6 percent of regional private employment.
Compared to statewide employment distribution, the Upper Peninsula saw an overrepresentation in Trade, transportation, and utilities (20.8 percent) and Leisure and hospitality (11.4 percent). Meanwhile, the state had a much larger share employed in Professional and business services (16.9 percent) compared to the U.P. (7.4 percent).
Percent Change in Private Employment, 2nd Quarter 2015 to 2nd Quarter 2024
Source: Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW), Michigan Center for Data and Analytics
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