LANSING, Mich., Dec. 14 (UPI) -- Michigan's unemployment rate dropped to 9.8 percent in November, the first time in three years it's been below 10 percent, state officials announced Wednesday.
The state Department of Technology, Management & Budget said in a release the seasonally adjusted jobless rate was .8 of a percentage point lower than in October.
Officials said total employment was up 21,000 over October and the number of unemployed fell by 39,000, representing a 19,000-person reduction in the state's workforce.
The November jobless rate was 1.6 percentage points below the November 2010 rate of 11.4 percent. That's a better improvement than the nation as a whole, which experienced a 1.2 percent drop over that one-year period. The national rate was 8.6 percent in November.
The 9.8 percent rate is Michigan's lowest since the state posted a 9.4 percent rate in October 2008 and the first time it's been below 10 percent since November 2008.
"Since August, Michigan's unemployment rate has shown signs of improvement, decreasing by over a full percentage point," said Rick Waclawek, director of the Bureau of Labor Market Information and Strategic Initiatives. "Job growth over the past year has occurred in business services, manufacturing, and health care."
