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(April 16, 2020 11:38 AM) Michigan’s seasonally adjusted jobless rate increased by half a percentage point over the month to 4.1 percent in March, according to data released today by the Michigan Department of Technology, Management & Budget.

Employment in Michigan fell by 65,000 in March, while the number of unemployed rose by 21,000, resulting in a labor force drop of 44,000 over the month. The data in this release reflects the Michigan employment status for the week of March 8–14, which was prior to the full impact of COVID-19 on the state labor market, and does not reflect many of the COVID-19-related layoffs that occurred in the second half of March.

The national unemployment rate rose significantly by nine-tenths of a percentage point in March to 4.4 percent. Michigan’s rate was three-tenths of a percentage point below the U.S rate. The national jobless rate advanced by 0.6 percentage points over the year, while the state rate was two-tenths below its March 2019 rate of 4.3 percent.

“The jobless rate increase over the month reflected the early impact of COVID-19 on Michigan’s workforce,” said Jason Palmer, director of the Bureau of Labor Market Information and Strategic Initiatives. “A significant job decline occurred in the state’s leisure and hospitality sector, as restaurants were among the first employers reporting pandemic-related layoffs a week or so before the full impact of the pandemic was felt later in March.”

The United States Department of Labor released their latest unemployment figures today.  In the week ending April 11, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 5,245,000, a decrease of 1,370,000 from the previous week’s revised level. The previous week’s level was revised up by 9,000 from 6,606,000 to 6,615,000.

The 4-week moving average was 5,508,500, an increase of 1,240,750 from the previous week’s revised average. The previous week’s average was revised up by 2,250 from 4,265,500 to 4,267,750. The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 8.2 percent for the week ending April 4, an increase of 3.1 percentage points from the previous week’s unrevised rate.

This marks the highest level of the seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate in the history of the seasonally adjusted series. The previous high was 7.0 percent in May of 1975.

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