LANSING, Mich. — Michigan’s jobless rate did not budge in September, staying at 5.0 percent for a second straight month, according to state figures released Thursday.
The steady rate masked a softer month underneath. About 27,000 fewer residents reported having work than in August, while the count of people looking for jobs ticked up by roughly 1,000. With fewer people working or searching, the state labor force shrank by about 26,000.
Nationally, unemployment edged up a tenth of a point to 4.2 percent, leaving Michigan eight-tenths of a point above the U.S. figure. A month earlier the gap was wider: August had brought Michigan’s rate up from 4.9 to 5.0 percent while the national number sat at 4.1 percent, which ranked Michigan fourth-worst among the states, trailing only Oregon, Connecticut and California.
The employer survey, which counts jobs rather than people, also slipped. Michigan payrolls lost about 6,000 positions in September to land near 4.49 million, with private education and health services shedding 4,000. Construction and manufacturing each added roughly 1,000 jobs, and the other services category has now dropped 4,000 jobs since June.
The state labor market information director, Wayne Rourke, said in the release that hiring cooled over the third quarter, with most of the decline in other services and in professional and business services.
Compared with a year ago, payrolls are up only about 2,000. Government added 15,000 jobs over that span, while professional and business services lost 8,000 and trade, transportation and utilities lost 4,000.
In metro Detroit, the seasonally adjusted rate rose a tenth of a point to 5.5 percent, seven-tenths higher than in September 2025.
Year-over-year comparisons for next month will have a hole in them: state officials have noted that October 2025 numbers were never collected because of the federal government shutdown.
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