LANSING, MI (WHTC-AM/FM, Jan. 27, 2022) – Unemployment rates stayed relatively steady along the Lakeshore in December.
In numbers released by the state Department of Technology, Management and Budget on Thursday, joblessness in Ottawa County stood at 3.2 percent for the final month of 2021. This was the same level as November, and a half of a percentage point less than December of 2020. Ottawa County was tied for second lowest in Michigan with Washtenaw County at 3.2 percent last month, two tenths higher than the state’s county leader of Livingston at 3.0 percent.
As for Allegan County, unemployment rose slightly in December, from 3.6 percent in November to 3.7 percent in the final month of 2021. A year ago, that figure was at 4.3 percent. Allegan County was tied for eighth this past December statewide with Eaton and St. Joseph counties.
Overall, jobless rates not seasonally adjusted fell in 10 of Michigan’s 17 major labor markets. “Regional labor market conditions continued to show evidence of recovery in 2021,” said Wayne Rourke, associate director of the Bureau of Labor Market Information and Strategic Initiatives in a MDTMB statement. “However, despite employment advances over the past year, jobless rates still remained above pre-pandemic levels.”
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