The number of Michiganders that filed first-time unemployment claims last week was a 31% decrease over the previous week, according to new numbers released Thursday by the U.S. Department of Labor.

The number of Michiganders that filed first-time jobless claims the week ending April 16 was 8,211, a 30% decrease from 11,892 first-time claims filed the week of April 9.

Numerically, that was the second-largest decrease, week-over-week, of any state behind Missouri.

The state’s top job classifications for new jobless claims were:

• Wholesale trade: 2,970 claims
• Manufacturing: 1,249 claims
• Unclassified (this would include crop and animal production, rail transportation, poster service, pension, health, welfare, and vacation funds, trusts, estates, and agency accounts, office of notaries, private households, and public administration.): 1,040 claims
• Retail trade: 369 claims
• Construction: 357

The top subcategory under manufacturing was durable goods manufacturing at 1,044 first-time jobless claims, according to the Michigan Unemployment Insurance Agency. The top subcategory under durable goods was transportation equipment manufacturing at 716 claims.

The federal data also shows that the number of Michiganders filing continuing unemployment claims, those who already filed an initial claim, decreased by 20% from 55,072 claims the week ending April 2 to 44,154 claims the week ending April 9.

That’s the second-largest numerical decrease among all states behind Georgia.

The state’s top job classifications for continuing claims were:

• Construction 11,321 claims
• Manufacturing 6,280 claims
• Administration and support, waste management and remediation services: 6,067 claims
• Health care and social assistance: 2,923 claims
• Retail trade: 2,764 claims
• Wholesale trade: 2,589 claims

The top subcategory under manufacturing was durable goods manufacturing at 5,147 first-time jobless claims, according to the Michigan Unemployment Insurance Agency. The top subcategory under durable goods was transportation equipment manufacturing at 2,576 claims.

Nationally, 184,000 Americans filed first-time jobless claims last week, an decrease from 186,000 the prior week. The 4-week moving average is 177,250, an increase from 172,750 the prior week.

The number of Americans that filed continuing claims for unemployment totaled 1,417,000 the week ending April 9, a decrease of 58,000 compared to the week ending April 2. The 4-week moving average is 1,481,750

For Michigan, March was the 11th consecutive month of job growth with a total civilian labor force gain of 15,000. This resulted in a total civilian labor force of 4,819,000 as the number of employed increased by 29,000 over the month and the number of unemployed fell by 14,000 over the month.

According to the Michigan Department of Technology, Management, and Budget, Michigan’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate dropped by 0.3% during March to 4.4 percent. That’s the lowest seasonally adjusted jobless rate since March 2020 (3.8%).

In March, all 83 Michigan counties saw declines in unemployment rates, with the largest jobless rate cut occurring in Mackinac County.

“The Michigan labor market has been positive this year,” said Wayne Rourke, associatedirector of the Bureau of Labor Market Information and Strategic Initiatives. “Michigan’sjobless rate has averaged 4.7 percent so far in 2022, and the state has only recorded alower annual rate twice in recent decades, the periods from 1997 to 2000 and 2017 to2019.”

In March, the national unemployment rate declined by 0.2% to 3.6% and has dropped by 2.4% over the last year. Michigan’s unemployment rate fell by nearly 2% since June 2021 and by 0.5% in the last two months.

You can view the Department of Labor’s unemployment report here: dol.gov/ui/data.pdf.

Metropolitan area employment and unemployment numbers for March will be released on Wednesday, April 27. County employment and unemployment numbers for the fourth quarter of 2021 will be released on May 25. That data is available here: bls.gov/data/.

Michigan labor force trends and highlights

• Total employment in Michigan increased by 62,000 over the last three months, and the gain in March of 0.6 percent was comparable to the advance nationally.
• The U.S. labor force gain of 2.4% over the year was a full percentage point larger than Michigan’s workforce increase during the same period (+1.4%).
• Michigan’s first quarter 2022 jobless rate of 4.7% was down by 0.5% from the prior quarter.
• The March 2022 statewide unemployment rate of 4.4% remained 0.6% above the February 2020 pre-pandemic rate of 3.8%
• All 17 Michigan labor market areas had employment advances between February and March, with a median hike of 2.2 percent.
• Employment rose in all major Michigan regions over the year as well, with a median advance of 4.3 percent. The Ann Arbor metro area exhibited the largest over-the-year employment surge (+6.9 percent).

Detroit metro area unemployment rate declines over month

The Detroit-Warren-Dearborn Metropolitan Statistical Area’s (MSA) seasonally adjusted unemployment rate fell by 0.3% in March to 4.7%.

Employment advanced in the metro area by 11,000, while the number of unemployeddecreased by 5,000. The Detroit MSA registered a net workforce gain for the third consecutive month.

Over the year, the Detroit jobless rate fell by 2%, similar to the rate drop statewide. Employment rose by 87,000 or 4.4%, which was faster than the statewide rate of gain.Recalls in manufacturing sector push up Michigan payroll jobs in March

According to the monthly survey of employers, Michigan seasonally adjusted nonfarmjobs rose by 15,000, or 0.3%, over the month, resulting in a statewide total of 4,330,000 in March.

Job change was minimal in several statewide industries in March. However, a significant job increase occurred in Michigan’s manufacturing sector (+8,000) due to the recall of auto workers from temporary layoffs.

Industry employment trends and highlights

• Job gains in the state have ranged from 12,000 to 17,000 for five consecutive months.
• Most major industry sectors had employment hikes over the year, led by leisure and hospitality (+61,000).
• The state’s education and health services sector was the only major industry with a minor over-the-year job reduction (-2,000).
• Michigan’s average job count in the first quarter 2022 was about 43,000 above the prior quarter. This increase was in line with the quarterly gains registered in 2021.
• Michigan total nonfarm jobs advanced by 174,000, or 4.2 percent, over the year. However, payroll employment remained 122,000, or 2.7 percent, below the February 2020 pre-pandemic level.