MI Unemployment down in September | News

LANSING, Mich. (AP) -- Michigan is reporting a second straight big drop in unemployment, with the rate down 2.1 percentage points in two months.

The Department of Technology, Management & Budget said Thursday that Michigan's seasonally unadjusted unemployment rate stood at 8.2 percent in September, down from 9.2 percent in August and 10.3 percent in July. The rate was 9.8 percent in September 2011.

The department says joblessness fell in all 17 of Michigan's major labor markets. It says the main reason was a shrinkage in the size of the labor force, down 36,000 since August.

The Detroit labor market's jobless rate fell to 10 percent in September, down from 10.9 percent in August. In the Grand Rapids area, joblessness fell to 6 percent from 6.9 percent.

Here are the seasonally unadjusted jobless rates for September, followed by August in West Michigan:

- Battle Creek, 6.5 percent, compared with 7.5 percent.
- Grand Rapids-Wyoming, 6 percent, compared with 6.9 percent.
- Holland-Grand Haven, 5.8 percent, compared with 6.7 percent.
- Kalamazoo-Portage, 6.5 percent, compared with 7.4 percent.
- Muskegon-Norton Shores, 8 percent, compared with 9.1 percent.