LANSING, Mich. -- Michigan’s seasonally adjusted jobless rate declined by two-tenths of a percentage point to 5.9 percent during November, according to data released today by the Michigan Department of Technology, Management & Budget (see technical note at end of this release). Total statewide employment advanced by 11,000, and Michigan unemployment receded by 11,000. Michigan’s workforce was little changed in November.

“Michigan’s labor market indicators were relatively stable in November,” said Wayne Rourke, associate director of the Bureau of Labor Market Information and Strategic Initiatives. “Payroll jobs rose in Michigan for the seventh consecutive month.”

The national unemployment rate dropped sharply by four-tenths of a percentage point over the month to 4.2 percent. Michigan’s November jobless rate was 1.7 percentage points above the U.S. rate. Over the year, the U.S. jobless rate decreased by 2.5 percentage points, similar to the Michigan unemployment rate drop of 2.3 percentage points.

Monthly and annual labor force trends and highlights

• The statewide workforce was essentially unchanged in November, while the national labor force edged up by 0.4 percent.
• Employment in the state inched up by 0.2 percent over the month, below the monthly employment gain nationally (+0.7 percent).
• Over the past year, recalls of workers from pandemic-related layoffs resulted in a sharp drop in the number of Michigan unemployed (-29.5 percent).

Michigan employment levels well below pre-pandemic counts

• Michigan’s number of employed in November remained significantly below pre-pandemic levels (-265,000, or -5.6 percent).
• The statewide number of unemployed, despite declining over the past year, remained 96,000, or 51.8 percent, above February 2020 levels.
• Michigan’s jobless rate of 5.9 percent was 2.2 percentage points above the pre-pandemic February 2020 rate.

November jobless rate moves down in Detroit metro area

The Detroit-Warren-Dearborn Metropolitan Statistical Area’s (MSA) seasonally adjusted jobless rate decreased in November by 0.3 percentage points to 5.5 percent. Employment advanced by 12,000, while unemployment was reduced by 6,000, resulting in a minor workforce gain of 6,000 since October.

Over the year, Detroit’s jobless rate receded considerably by 4.7 percentage points. Employment increased by 50,000, and unemployment fell by 103,000 since November 2020.

Nonfarm jobs advance during November

Michigan payroll employment increased by 17,000 during November, or 0.4 percent, according to the monthly survey of employers, resulting in a statewide job total of 4,241,000.

Employment change was modest in many major Michigan industries in November. About half of the statewide monthly job gain occurred in the state’s leisure and hospitality sector (+9,000).

Industry employment trends and highlights

• Michigan has added over 67,000 payroll jobs over the last three months.
• Jobs in the trade, transportation, and utilities sector edged up by 4,000 in November, led by job gains in warehousing and package delivery related to hiring during the holiday shopping season. Retail jobs (not seasonally adjusted) rose at a typical seasonal pace.
• Nonfarm jobs moved up over the year by 145,000, or 3.5 percent. However, total payroll employment during November remained 212,000 below the February 2020 pre-pandemic level.

Job advances occurred in most major industries over the year, with the largest increase in the leisure and hospitality sector (+43,000).

For more detailed information, including data tables, view the full release.

Note: Data revision causing temporary series break in September 2021

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) is responsible for examining the inputs to the statistical model that produces the Michigan monthly employment and unemployment estimates. Due to the impact of the pandemic on employment, BLS implemented a revised method of examining models for outliers on a monthly basis, as opposed to their usual practice of designating outliers annually. This involved implementing level shifts monthly in response to outliers in the Current Population Survey data, where appropriate. These level shifts are designed to preserve movements in the published estimates that the models otherwise would have discounted.

BLS implemented a level shift due to an outlier identified in the Current Population Survey input to the Detroit-Warren-Dearborn metro area unemployment model in January 2021. This adjustment produced some distortions in the benchmarking factors used for Michigan, the Detroit metro area, and the Balance of Michigan. To reduce these distortions, BLS has modified this outlier intervention with the publication of September through November 2021 estimates. This modification resulted in estimates that better reflect the model inputs for the most recent three months and produced a revised September seasonally adjusted Michigan unemployment rate of 6.3 percent. Data corrections for January - August 2021 will be addressed during the usual annual revision process at the end of 2021. The revised estimates will be published in March 2022.

The revised estimates for September 2021, October 2021, and the newly published November 2021 data can be fully compared with data for all months of 2020 and prior years. However, the data for September - November 2021 should not be compared with previously released estimates for January - August 2021 until all months of 2021 are revised in March 2022.

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