KALAMAZOO, MI (WHTC-AM/FM, May 26, 2023) – The employment outlook along the Lakeshore and across Michigan is looking good right now, but could there be storm clouds over the horizon?
On Thursday, the state Department of Technology, Management and Budget released its monthly report of not seasonally-adjusted unemployment rates for regions and counties in April. It showed that joblessness receded in all 17 major labor market areas by a median rate of 1.5 percentage points from March numbers, and eight tenth of a percentage point from a year ago.
As for county-by-county breakdowns, Ottawa County was fifth among Michigan’s 83 counties in unemployment at 2.3 percent last month, while Allegan County was 11th at 2.8 percent. This compares with 3.4 and 4.1 percent, respectively, in March, and 2.8 and 3.2 percent for this time in 2022.
However, Dr. Brian Long, Director of Supply Management Research with the Seidman College of Business at Grand Valley State University, says that a “yellow” caution light should be noticed, as his monthly survey of purchasing managers in the Grand Rapids and Kalamazoo markets indicated an easing of employment optimism, and that the percentage of firms adding personnel in April fell from 23 percent to 16 percent.
Long added that unemployment is a lagging indicator, and that he expects the jobless rate in West Michigan to begin rising late in the summer.
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