Michigan Unemployment Rate Advances During February

Michigan’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate increased by 0.1 percentage points between January and February to 5.4 percent.

The national unemployment rate rose by 0.1 percentage points over the month to 4.1 percent. Michigan’s February jobless rate was 1.3 percentage points larger than the U.S. rate. Over the year, the national unemployment rate advanced by 0.2 percentage points, while the statewide unemployment rate increased by 1.4 percentage points. Michigan was tied with California in having the second highest unemployment rate in the nation during February. Nevada continued to have the highest rate at 5.8 percent.

Michigan’s labor force was nearly unchanged in February, edging up by 0.1 percent, while the U.S. workforce receded by 0.2 percent. Total statewide employment remained steady over the month, whereas the national employment level declined by 0.4 percent. The number of unemployed people in the state advanced by 2.2 percent, an over-the-month increase 0.8 percentage points below the national unemployment gain of 3.0 percent.

Over the year, Michigan’s labor force advanced by 1.3 percent, 0.4 percentage points below the workforce increase seen nationally. Statewide employment edged down by 0.1 percent, while the U.S. employment total increased by 1.4 percent. The number of unemployed people in Michigan increased by 34.3 percent, and the national count of unemployed rose by 9.1 percent since February 2024.

As a result of the annual benchmarking process, Michigan’s 2024 annual average unemployment rate was revised upwards by two-tenths of a percentage point to 4.7 percent. Michigan’s annual employment level rose by 22,000, or 0.5 percent, between 2023 and 2024, while annual unemployment advanced by 42,000, or 21.4 percent. The size of the state's labor force grew by 1.3 percent over the year. Michigan’s annual average unemployment rate rose from 3.9 to 4.7 percent, an increase of 0.8 percentage points.

Michigan's unemployment rate continues to deviate from national rate over the year.

Source: Local Area Unemployment Statistics, Michigan Center for Data and Analytics

For more information on Michigan's statewide and regional labor markets, read the full press releases from the Michigan Center for Data and Analytics. Download custom employment and unemployment data with the MCDA Data Search tool.

Note Data Revisions: The data in this article reflects recently revised historical estimates. All states in the nation participate in this revision process facilitated by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Seasonally adjusted and unadjusted monthly labor force estimates from 2016 to 2024 were revised for Michigan and the Detroit metro area.