Last year's unemployment rate highest in six years

LANSING, Mich. - Michigan&#39;s 5 percent average unemployment rate last year was its highest in six years, state officials said Wednesday. <br> <br> The state&#39;s average unemployment rate in 2001 is the highest since 1995, when the average rate was 5.3 percent, according to the Michigan Department of Career Development. It&#39;s also higher than the 2000 average of 3.6 percent -- marking the first annual unemployment increase since 1991. <br> <br> Joe Billig, a regional economic analyst for the department, said the high average unemployment rate reflects the national recession that began in March 2001. <br> <br> The state&#39;s unemployment level increased nearly 59 percent since December 2000, the department said. <br> <br> December&#39;s 6 percent statewide unemployment rate is up from November&#39;s 5.8 percent. The department increased the November figure on Wednesday. That rate was reported as 5.7 percent last month. <br> <br> Last month&#39;s unemployment rate, the state&#39;s highest since May 1994, was .2 percentage points above the national unemployment rate of 5.8 percent, the department said. <br> <br> Billig said the slight difference between the national and state unemployment numbers show that Michigan has a stronger economy than it did in the early 1980s and 1990s, when the state&#39;s rate was between 2 percent and 3 percent higher than the national rate. <br> <br> The department also said the December unemployment rate was 2.2 percentage points higher than the December 2000 rate of 3.8 percent. <br> <br> The total number of jobs decreased by 12,000 in December to total 4.64 million. Jobs were lost in several areas, including 9,000 in retail, 4,000 in manufacturing and 1,000 each in services and mining. <br> <br> The decline was offset by an increase of 2,000 government jobs and 1,000 construction jobs. <br> <br> Average weekly earnings for manufacturing workers were down $20.65 for the month, from $812.13 in November to $791.48 in December. But the department said they increased $17.63 for the year from $773.85 in December 2000. <br> <br> The annual and monthly unemployment rates were released a day after economists told state lawmakers Michigan&#39;s economy should begin rebounding in the coming months. <br> <br> University of Michigan economists said they expect the state&#39;s unemployment rate to peak at 6.2 percent later this year before dropping to 6.1 percent in 2003. <br> <br> &#34;It&#39;s been a difficult year, and 2002 is likely to be a better year,&#34; Billig said. &#34;But unemployment rates aren&#39;t expected to drop anytime soon.&#34; <br> <br>