Michigan jobless rate drops to 12.4% in November

12/15/2010

LANSING — Michigan's labor department says the state's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate has fallen four-tenths of a percentage point to 12.4 percent in the latest month.

The state Department of Energy, Labor and Economic Growth said Wednesday that November's state jobless rate fell even as the national rate rose. The U.S. rate rose 0.2 points to 9.8 percent in November. Ohio's November rate will be released Friday.

Michigan's rate is down from 14.4 percent in November, 2009. The state has seen three straight months of declining joblessness. Total employment has been fairly flat since August. There were 4.8 million people in Michigan's civilian work force in November, of which 597,000 are out of work.