Michigan’s September 2021 unemployment rate remains above pre-pandemic level
• Michigan’s September 2021 employment level remained 226,000, or 4.8 percent, below the February 2020 pre-pandemic total.
• Total unemployment in the state was 36,000 or 19.4 percent, higher than the February 2020 level.
• The September 2021 jobless rate of 4.6 percent was above the pre-pandemic rate of 3.7 percent.
Long-term job data compiled by DTMB shows metro Detroit is home to nearly 1.7 million jobs and is projected to have almost 209,000 job openings every year through 2028. Of those projected openings, at least 52,300 will typically require a postsecondary certification, an associate degree or apprenticeship
Within the state’s new set of employment projections, data shows several long-term trends that will impact the Detroit region and Michigan labor market. Among them are an aging population that will continue to spur demand for jobs in health care industries and occupations, the continued use of online shopping that will drive changes in the distribution of retail-related jobs, and an increase in careers that require postsecondary training or education.
Statewide data projections show Michigan’s population is expected to grow by 3.6 percent through 2028. This population growth, however, is expected to be combined with a sharp 28 percent increase in people age 65 and older. Largely because the number of residents approaching retirement age is expected to outpace the count of new residents in the state, the Michigan labor force is expected to contract by 0.2 percent through 2028.
Recently, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer also announced that Michigan’s economy recovery is continuing to remain strong after the U.S Bureau of Economic Analysis released state-bystate Q2 2021 GDP numbers showing Michigan at 8.3% growth, the third highest in the nation and the best in the Midwest.
Nationally, the number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits fell last week to a new low point since the pandemic erupted, evidence that layoffs are declining as companies hold onto workers.
Unemployment claims dropped 6,000 to 290,000 last week, the third straight drop, the Labor Department said Thursday.
That’s the fewest people to apply for benefits since March 14, 2020, when the pandemic intensified. Applications for jobless aid, which generally track the pace of layoffs, have fallen steadily from about 900,000 in January.
Unemployment claims are increasingly returning to normal, but many other aspects of the job market haven’t yet done so. Hiring has slowed in the past two months, even as companies and other employers have posted a near-record number of open jobs.
Officials such as Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell had hoped more people would find work in September as schools reopened, easing child care constraints, and enhanced unemployment aid ended nationwide.
Yet so far, that hasn’t happened. Instead, some observers are starting to consider whether some of those who had jobs before the pandemic, and lost them, may have permanently stopped looking for work.
On Tuesday, Christopher Waller, a member of the Federal Reserve’s Board of Governors, said that two million of the 22 million jobs lost to the pandemic may not return anytime soon because retirements have accelerated so quickly since COVID-19 hit.
The Labor Department’s report Thursday also showed that the number of people receiving jobless aid continues to fall steadily. In the week of Oct. 2, the latest data available, 3.3 million people received unemployment benefits, down from 3.6 million in the previous week.
A year ago, nearly 24 million people were getting unemployment aid.
About 7 million people lost jobless benefits in September after two emergency programs, set up in March 2020, expired. One of the programs provided aid to gig workers and the self-employed, who traditionally are not eligible to receive unemployment insurance, and the second covered workers who have been unemployed for longer than six months. And an extra $300 a week in federal unemployment benefits expired nationwide Sept. 6.