Jobless rates rise again in local Michigan counties

4/24/2009

Unemployment rates rose in March to 18.1 percent in Hillsdale County, 15.4 percent in Lenawee County, and 13.9 percent in Monroe County, as joblessness climbed in all 17 of Michigan s major labor markets, new figures show.

The report, issued yesterday by the Michigan Department of Energy, Labor & Economic Growth, shows the lowest regional jobless rate last month was 7.9 percent in Ann Arbor and the highest was 18.2 percent in the northeast part of the Lower Peninsula. Mackinac County s 28 percent unemployment rate was highest among Michigan s 83 counties. The Michigan rate in March was 12.6 percent, highest in the nation.

The February rates in counties just north of Ohio were 17 percent in Hillsdale, 15 percent in Lenawee, and 12.9 percent in Monroe.