Michigan jobless rate inched up last month

10/21/2004

LANSING, Mich. - Michigan had the nation's third-highest unemployment rate in August, and the picture didn't get any rosier in September.

Figures released yesterday by the state Department of Labor & Economic Growth put the state unemployment rate at 6.8 percent, a tenth of a percentage point higher than August and 1.4 percentage points above the national rate of 5.4 percent.

The numbers were instantly highlighted by Democrats eager to blame President Bush for the state's economic problems.