Lenawee County's unemployment rate rises in January

David Panian, The Daily Telegram
·2 min read

ADRIAN — Lenawee County followed the statewide, seasonal trend as its unemployment rose almost a percentage point in January.

The county’s jobless rate in January was 5%, up from 4.1% in December, according to data released by the Michigan Department of Technology, Management and Budget.

“Michigan’s regional labor markets experienced typical increases in unemployment rates in January,” Wayne Rourke, labor market information director of the Michigan Center for Data and Analytics, said in a news release. “Payroll job totals also fell seasonally in all Michigan metro areas over the month.”

Michigan’s unemployment rate in January was 4.8%, up from 3.8% in December.

The county’s jobless rate for January was slightly less than the same month in 2023, when it was 5.1%

All Michigan counties displayed an uptick in jobless rates between December and January, with a median increase of 1.2 percentage points, the news release said. Jobless rates rose in 58 of Michigan’s 83 counties over the year.

Lenawee County’s Michigan neighbors exhibited increases in their unemployment rates. Hillsdale County went from 4.4% in December to 5% in January, Jackson County rose from 4.2% to 4.9%, Washtenaw County went from 3% to 3.5%, and Monroe County rose from 4.2% to 5.2%.

Oakland County had the state's lowest unemployment rate for January at 3.36%. Mackinac County had the highest jobless rate at 21.2%.

Most areas in the state saw their labor force grow in January, the state said, but Lenawee County’s shrank from 44,447 in December to 43,869 in January. There were 41,671 people considered employed in January, down from 42,628 in December. The state counted 2,198 unemployed in January, up from 1,819 in December.

The monthly survey of employers indicated that Michigan’s not seasonally adjusted nonfarm employment dropped by 70,000, or 1.6%, over the month, the release said. The largest over-the-month employment losses occurred in trade, transportation and utilities, down 18,000; government, down 15,000; and professional and business services, down 8,000.

At a glance

The state of Michigan released the following unemployment rates for area counties in January:

  • Hillsdale County: 5%

  • Jackson County: 4.9%

  • Lenawee County: 5%

  • Monroe County: 5.2%

  • Washtenaw County: 3.5%

SOURCE: Michigan Department of Technology, Management and Budget

This article originally appeared on The Daily Telegram: Lenawee County's unemployment rate rises in January