Jobless rate rises to 7.1% in Michigan

5/17/2007

LANSING, Mich. Michigan s unemployment rate shot 0.6 percentage point higher to 7.1 percent in April, the state Department of Labor and Economic Growth reported yesterday.

The national unemployment rate for April was 4.5 percent.

The rate had dropped to 6.9 percent in January from 7.1 percent in the final quarter of 2006; it fell to 6.6 percent in February and 6.5 percent in March.

But in April, total employment fell by 53,000 jobs and unemployment rose by 29,000.