LANSING – Unemployment in the Upper Peninsula went up in May to 7 percent from 6.7 percent April however more people are employed. More people have jumped into the labor force causing the unemployment rate to rise.
The Michigan Department of Technology, Management & Budget says the number of people employed in the U.P. is 132,700, up by 13-hundred in April and 21-hundred a year ago. The number of unemployed is up by 600.
Schoolcraft County had the worst unemployment rate in the state at 11.8 percent. It was up in part because of the closure of FutureMark’s Manistique paper mill in March.
Four U.P. counties were at the bottom of the statewide list. Along with Schoolcraft County, Baraga, Keweenaw and Ontonagon Counties had unemployment rates above 10 percent.
4.9% Mackinac
5.3% Menominee
5.7% Dickinson
6.3% Marquette
6.7% Delta
7.2% Houghton
7.3% Luce
7.9% Gogebic
8.2% Chippewa
9.1% Alger
10% Baraga
10.3% Keweenaw
10.4% Ontonagon
11.8% Schoolcraft