Mich. jobless rate falls to 9%, lowest since 2008

3/8/2012

LANSING — Michigan’s unemployment rate dropped to 9 percent in January, its lowest level since 2008, the state said Wednesday.

January’s seasonally adjusted jobless rate dropped 0.3 percentage points from December, 2011, according to the state. It’s the lowest rate since September, 2008, when unemployment was at 8.9 percent.

In the past 12 months, the state’s jobless rate has fallen 1.9 percentage points. Much of the decline in the jobless rate in recent months is because of a drop in the number of people actively seeking work — some have left the state, while others have given up their job search.

In another sign of an improving economy, the state’s civilian work force stopped contracting in January, rising a modest 2,000 people to 4,632,000.

Ohio announced last week that its unemployment rate in January dropped two-tenths of a percentage point to 7.7 percent.