Unemployment filings hold steady from a week ago
The number of Michiganders that filed first-time unemployment claims last week held steady over the previous week, according to new numbers released Thursday by the U.S. Department of Labor.
The number of Michiganders that filed first-time jobless claims the week ending May 7 was 6,953, a decrease from the 7,588 first-time claims filed the week of April 30.
Numerically, that was the seventh-largest decrease in the number of initial claims, week-over-week, of any state.
The federal data also shows that the number of Michiganders filing continuing unemployment claims, those who already filed an initial claim, increased by 1,478 claims from 38,697 claims the week ending April 23 to 40,175 claims the week ending April 30.
Numerically, that was the third-largest increase in the number of insured claims, week-over-week, of any state.
Here are the top six job classifications for new claims:
Manufacturing: 1,579 claims
Durable Goods Manufacturing: 1,263 claims Transportation Equipment Manufacturing: 966 claims Wholesale Trade: 1,016 claims
Unclassified: 936 claims Admin. and Support, Waste Mgmt. and Remediation Services: 564 claims
Retail Trade: 459 claims
Here are the top six job classifications for insured claims:
Manufacturing: 12,133 claims
Durable Goods Manufacturing: 10,873 claims Transportation Equipment Manufacturing: 8,688 claims
Construction: 5,417 claims Admin. and Support, Waste Mgmt. and Remediation Services: 3,848 claims
Health Care and Social Assistance: 2,796 claims Wholesale Trade: 2,588 claims
Nationally, 203,000 Americans filed first-time jobless claims last week, an increase from 202,000 the prior week. The 4-week moving average is 192,750, an increase from 188,500 the prior week.
The number of Americans that filed continuing claims for unemployment totaled 1,343,000 the week ending April 30, a decrease of 44,000 compared to the week ending April 23. This is the lowest level for insured unemployment since Jan. 3, 1970 when it was 1,332,000.
The 4-week moving average is 1,385,000, a decrease of 32,750 from the week of April 23. This is the lowest level for this average since Jan. 31, 1970 when it was 1,374,250.
For Michigan, March was the 11th consecutive month of job growth with a total civilian labor force gain of 15,000. This resulted in a total civilian labor force of 4,819,000 as the number of employed increased by 29,000 over the month and the number of unemployed fell by 14,000 over the month.
According to the Michigan Department of Technology, Management, and Budget (DTMB), Michigan’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate dropped by 0.3% during March to 4.4 percent. That’s the lowest seasonally adjusted jobless rate since March 2020 (3.8%).
Michigan’s April employment and unemployment data will be released by the U.S. Department of Labor on May 20, which will precede fourth quarter 2021 county-level employment and wage data being released May 25.
A copy of the DTMB’s May labor market newsletter can be found here: milmi.org/_ docs/publications/News/ LMN/LMN_0522.pdf.
In March, all 83 Michigan counties saw declines in unemployment rates, with the largest jobless rate cut occurring in Mackinac County.
Michigan labor force trends (March)
• Total employment in Michigan increased by 62,000 over the last three months, and the gain in March of 0.6 percent was comparable to the advance nationally.
• The U.S. labor force gain of 2.4% over the year was a full percentage point larger than Michigan’s workforce increase during the same period (+1.4%).
• Michigan’s first quarter 2022 jobless rate of 4.7% was down by 0.5% from the prior quarter.
• The statewide unemployment rate of 4.4% remained 0.6% above the February 2020 pre-pandemic rate of 3.8%
• All 17 Michigan labor market areas had employment advances between February and March, with a median hike of 2.2 percent.
• Employment rose in all major Michigan regions over the year as well, with a median advance of 4.3 percent. The Ann Arbor metro area exhibited the largest over-the-year employment surge (+6.9 percent).
Michigan employment trends (March)
• Job gains in the state have ranged from 12,000 to 17,000 for five consecutive months.
• Most major industry sectors had employment hikes over the year, led by leisure and hospitality (+61,000).
• The state’s education and health services sector was the only major industry with a minor over-theyear job reduction (-2,000).
• Michigan’s average job count in the first quarter 2022 was about 43,000 above the prior quarter. This increase was in line with the quarterly gains registered in 2021.
• Michigan total nonfarm jobs advanced by 174,000, or 4.2 percent, over the year. However, payroll employment remained 122,000, or 2.7 percent, below the February 2020 prepandemic level.