The state’s unemployment rate dipped in June for the second month in a row to 5.3%, according to the Michigan Department of Technology, Management and Budget’s monthly jobs report.
Health services showed the biggest month-to-month job gains, along with construction and government services. The biggest month-to-month losses were in professional/business services and manufacturing.
The June report showed some mixed signals. Michigan’s unemployment remains higher than the national average, for example. Also, the Michigan unemployment rate is still higher than it was in June of 2024.
But Michigan Labor Market Information Director Wayne Rourke said the last two months of drops in the unemployment rate are a positive sign.
“The declining unemployment rate shows a little bit of stabilization, so that’s a good thing,” he told Michigan Public Radio. “One of the things that we’re watching is the labor force is also declining over the last few months.”
That means fewer people are either working or looking for work. That smaller workforce is also a contributing factor to the lower unemployment rate.
Rourke said the monthly jobs number is not a standalone statistic. It needs to be measured against other economic conditions.
“So sometimes when an unemployment rate goes up, that’s not always a bad thing. It’s more people coming into the labor market,” he said. “Same thing with the unemployment decreasing, like we might be starting to see a trend where the labor force is shrinking because people are leaving the labor market.”
University of Michigan economist Gabriel Ehrlich agreed Michigan’s employment picture appears stable despite some questions about what lies ahead.
“The takeaway from the jobs report for June is that Michigan’s economy is hanging in in the face of some headwinds from the macro-economy in terms of high interest rates and uncertainty around tariff and trade policy,” he said.
