Michigan jobless rate drops, but not because more jobs exist – Feb. 24, 2012

After leading the nation in unemployment for four years, Michigan has finally dropped out of the Top 10. State unemployment slid to 9.3% in December, only a touch higher than the national rate, and a sharp decline from the 14.1% rate that Michigan hit in the fall of 2009.

And last year was the first time the state added any jobs since the turn of the 21st Century.

Sounds great, huh? Well, hold the applause.

The main reason Michigan’s unemployment rate is falling is because its labor force is shrinking fast, economists said. The state has lost 4.6% of its workforce since the recovery began in mid-2009, according to Donald Grimes, senior research specialist at the University of Michigan….

via Michigan jobless rate drops, but not because more jobs exist – Feb. 24, 2012.