Michigan's seasonally unadjusted unemployment rate up 0.4 points to 8.5 percent in February

4/3/2014

LANSING, Mich. — Michigan’s seasonally unadjusted unemployment has risen 0.4 percentage points for the second straight month to 8.5 percent.

The Department of Technology, Management & Budget released regional joblessness figures for February today.

The latest reported statewide unemployment rate is up from 8.1 percent in January and 7.7 percent in December. It’s down from 9.4 percent in February 2013.

The department says February’s unemployment rates ranged from a low of 5.3 percent in the Ann Arbor region to a high of 14.1 percent in the northeastern Lower Peninsula. It says the rate was 9 percent in the populous Detroit area, a 0.5-point increase.

The state says it’s typical for joblessness to increase in Michigan during winter months.