Washtenaw County's unemployment rate hits lowest point in two years
Washtenaw County's monthly unemployment rate tumbled below 7 percent for the first time in two years, although the decline corresponded with a drop in the number of overall jobs, according to statistics released today by the Michigan Department of Energy, Labor and Economic Growth.
The county's unemployment rate in December was 6.6 percent, down from 7.2 percent in November and 9.9 percent in December 2009. That's the lowest it has been since it stood at 6.6 percent in December 2008.
But the number of jobs physically based in Washtenaw County declined by 400 from November to December.
Meanwhile, the county's total workforce -- a measurement of the number of unemployed residents who want a job plus the number of employed residents -- fell by 1,400. At the same time, the number of residents holding a job fell by 200.
Collectively, that trend means the jobless rate declined due to unemployed residents getting discouraged and deciding not to look for jobs anymore, the state said.
Retailers added 300 jobs from November to December to staff up for the holiday shopping season. But the government sector shed 500 jobs, including 400 in state government, a figure that includes student workers at local universities.
Michigan's unemployment rate stood at 11.7 percent in December.
Contact AnnArbor.com's Nathan Bomey at (734) 623-2587 or nathanbomey@annarbor.com. You can also follow him on Twitter or subscribe to AnnArbor.com's newsletters.
Comments
Epengar
Fri, Jan 28, 2011 : 3:26 p.m.
This kind of month-to-month comparison with only two years of history is pretty useless, there are too many one-time factors. For instance, "the government sector shed 500 jobs, including 400 in state government, a figure that includes student workers at local universities" So all the student who had fall semester jobs at UM and EMU are counted in this as having "lost their jobs"? that really skews the picture. Come on, you can do better analysis than that.
Alan Goldsmith
Fri, Jan 28, 2011 : 11:29 a.m.
Of course, leave it to annarbor.com to put the real news in paragraph 5 of a brief 7 paragraph story: "Collectively, that trend means the jobless rate declined due to unemployed residents getting discouraged and deciding not to look for jobs anymore, the state said." Which makes the headline misleading: Washtenaw County's unemployment rate hits lowest point in two years...because people are giving up.
frozenhotchocolate
Fri, Jan 28, 2011 : 7:22 a.m.
is this really annarbor.com. blame obama and the such. people, this is the way unemployment has been tracked for decades, when it was at four and a half percent it was because people stopped looking for jobs too. to all those unemployed who stopped looking for work, look on craigs list, it may not be youre profession or youre trade but it is a job. really, ann arbor is such a hard hit city, give me a break, cities all over the nation would trade their future and current situation with ann arbor in a heartbeat. give up looking for a job if you dont want the ones that are looking for you. silly people.
stunhsif
Fri, Jan 28, 2011 : 2:13 a.m.
Thanks Mr. Obama, your massive stimulus spending has been nothing but a big bust ! A one termer I can only hope.
ezbngreen
Fri, Jan 28, 2011 : 12:20 a.m.
"Collectively, that trend means the jobless rate declined due to unemployed residents getting discouraged and deciding not to look for jobs anymore, the state said." Gainful incarceration does not count for employment; jail/ prison trusty jobs don't count either. The trend to sit around and reproduce seems to be the trend for certain areas within the county. These individuals seem to follow these two lifestyles and rarely ever do anything that benefits their family or the community.
CynicA2
Thu, Jan 27, 2011 : 10:04 p.m.
"Collectively, that trend means the jobless rate declined due to unemployed residents getting discouraged and deciding not to look for jobs anymore, the state said." - Or, perhaps they just packed their bags and left this God-forsaken state. Another example of how to lie with statistics, and put a positive spin on something that is more negative than positive when you read beyond the Polly Anna-ish headline. The reality is far from balmy.
shumom23
Thu, Jan 27, 2011 : 8:35 p.m.
Is the unemployment rate figured with those on unemployment ? If so then those who are no longer eligible are not counted as they are homeless and hungry due to the lack of jobs here in Michigan. Have you checked out the street corners lately?
Nathan Bomey
Thu, Jan 27, 2011 : 9:09 p.m.
In other words, the unemployment rate includes people who are looking for a job and yet cannot collect or are no longer collecting unemployment insurance.
Nathan Bomey
Thu, Jan 27, 2011 : 9:07 p.m.
This question comes up a lot, so I just asked DELEG analyst Mark Reffitt to provide an answer. Here was his response: >>>The local data is calculated using a variety of data sources, and one of those happens to be UI claimants. However, we consider not only those folks in our data, but also those who have exhausted UI benefits, those were were ineligible even after losing a job, as well as people who entered or re-entered the labor force after some time away from it who never lost a job to begin with. Basically, if they 1) haven't worked, 2) are willing and able to work and 3) have actively sought employment, then they are considered unemployment by the BLS definitions. They have to meet all three criteria to satisfy this. As far as calculating this, much of it is survey based, but at the local level the sample size is insufficiently large to use the survey exclusively, which is why data sources like the UI info, employer-based employment trends, Census estimations, etc. are used. At the national level, the CPS survey is used solely to determine the rate, and at the statewide level, there is yet a different model which incorporates other available data sources.