Michigan unemployment continued a months-long rise in December to reach the highest point since October 2021, concluding 2024 with 45,000 more Michiganders out of work than a year ago.

Wayne Rourke, labor market information director for the Michigan Center for Data and Analytics, attempted to put a positive spin on the depressing numbers in a statement Thursday.

“After three consecutive years of jobless rate declines, Michigan’s annual average unemployment rate rose during 2024,” he said. “However, the state’s annual average labor force level and payroll jobs total both increased over the year.”

As the national unemployment rate receded by another tenth of a percentage point to 4.1% in December, Michigan’s rate increased by two tenths to 5%.

“Michigan’s number of unemployed people increased by 21.7 percent over the year, a gain 12.7 percentage points larger than the growth in unemployed persons seen nationally (+9.0 percent),” according to the Department of Technology, Management & Budget.

Michigan’s 5% unemployment rate is now the largest it’s been since October 2021, when the rate was 5.1%. The state’s preliminary annual average unemployment rate for 2024 was 4.5%, up six tenths of a percentage point from 2023’s average of 3.9%.

A total of 252,000 Michiganders were unemployed in December, which translates to 45,000 more than the 207,000 unemployed in December 2023, and about 8,000 more than last month.

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December marked the ninth straight month unemployment has increased in the Great Lakes State.

State officials in November reported Michigan’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate jumped two-tenths of a percentage point from September to come in at 4.7% in October, then later revised the figure to 4.6%.

The unemployment rate then swelled by another two-tenths of a percentage point in November to 4.8%, before making the jump to 5% last month.

In the Detroit metro area, Michigan’s largest, the number employed cratered by 12,000 in December, while unemployment was up by 2,000.

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“The Detroit MSA jobless rate increased by 0.9 percentage points over the year,” according to the DTMB. “Employment fell by 62,000, and the number of unemployed increased by 20,000 since December 2023.”

Statewide, the biggest losses in December came from Michigan’s critical manufacturing industry with 2,000 jobs gone, and construction, which shed 1,000.

Over the past year, Michigan lost 11,000 manufacturing jobs, 6,000 retail trade jobs, 3,000 professional and business services jobs, and 1,000 information jobs. The biggest gains came from government, which added 18,000 since December 2023, and private education and health services, which added 12,000, according to MDTMB payroll employment estimates.

Other data from the DTMB’s online job ad snapshot shows that while the number of Michiganders looking for work is on the rise, demand for their services is declining.

In December, the snapshot totaled 152,190 online ads, down 6.9% from the month prior. In March 2022, the number was 300,782.

Notice of layoffs and closures, known as Worker Adjustment and Restraining Notifications, show more jobs losses on the horizon.

A total of 1,689 Michiganders are scheduled for layoffs from more than a dozen Michigan companies by March 16, in eight counties: Tuscola, Genesee, Macomb, Wayne, Bay, Oakland, Sanilac, and Saginaw, according to the notices.

The impending layoffs come as Michigan’s Unemployment Insurance Agency is undergoing numerous changes, from a new director, to continued implementation of a $78 million online unemployment benefits system, to increases in benefits signed into law by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in December.

The benefits legislation, Senate Bill 40, increases the number of weeks Michiganders can receive unemployment insurance from 20 to 26, while boosting the cap on weekly benefits from $362 to $614 over the next three years, according to The Detroit News.

The weekly benefit amount will increase by $84 this year and each of the next two, and will be adjusted annually based on inflation after that. The new law also increases benefit boosters for dependents from $6 to $26.

According to a Senate Fiscal Analysis, based on current trends, the increase in the weekly benefit maximum could add $531.1 million in additional pay outs annually in 2027.

The legislation was strongly opposed by the Small Business Association of Michigan, the Michigan Manufacturers Association, National Federation of Independent Businesses, and most Republicans, who noted the benefits are funded entirely by job creators.

“Dramatically raising the amount and the length of unemployment benefits almost certainly would lead to higher state unemployment taxes for businesses than they would otherwise face,” Sen. Thomas Albert, R-Lowell, said in a statement cited by the Detroit Free Press. “And we should not be adopting policies that further raise costs for job providers when they are already reeling from the same inflationary pressures and other economic factors that all Michiganders have faced for the last few years.”

The Senate Fiscal analysis notes the new law is expected to increase total annual UI payouts to up to $1.4 billion.

“Total pay outs would be even higher during an economic recession,” it read. “The total would be less than the total amount of UI revenue generated, which currently is $1.2 billion and would decrease the Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund balance, which is currently at $2.8 billion.”