Washington — Unemployment rates have worsened in all but one of Michigan’s metropolitan areas over the past year, according to new federal data.
The Detroit-Warren-Dearborn metro area improved from a rate of 4.9% last June to 4.5% in June 2025, the most recent month with non-preliminary data available. But each of Michigan’s 14 other metro areas saw rates tick up, with the worst results near Muskegon, Flint and Bay City.
“Within Michigan, the highest unemployment rates are in Flint and Saginaw. That isn’t a surprise. Flint and Saginaw have struggled for decades with the decline of manufacturing,” Charles Ballard, an emeritus professor of economics at Michigan State University, said in a Tuesday email.
“The lowest rates are in Ann Arbor and Traverse City, and that isn’t a surprise either,” he added. The two areas are more affluent than the rest of Michigan.
The regional numbers in the Bureau of Labor Statistics data released last week are consistent with a statewide, 18-month trend of worsening unemployment that has sent Michigan tumbling in national rankings of the key economic indicator. The statistic measures the share of people in the labor force who do not have a job but are actively seeking work.
Michigan’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate of 5.3% in June ranked third-to-last nationally, ahead of only Nevada and California (both 5.4%). Preliminary estimates for July showed similar figures, though that data later could be revised upward or downward.
The state’s unemployment rate has mostly risen since February 2024, when Michigan’s approximately 4% rate ranked 33rd nationally. The slide since then has spanned the end of former Democratic President Joe Biden’s administration and the first six months of Republican President Donald Trump’s second term.
Under Biden, many Michiganians were concerned about the effects of persistent inflation on the state’s economy. That has given way under Trump to concerns over tariffs.
Economists, critics and business leaders have warned that the GOP leader’s oft-changing rollout of import taxes has disrupted supply chains and hurt companies’ ability to plan. Advocates and Trump himself, meanwhile, have argued that tariffs will reverse a decades-long decline in domestic and Michigan manufacturing jobs.
Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer issued an executive directive at the end of July asking state agencies to assess the impact of Trump’s tariffs on the Michigan economy. Those assessments have not yet been made public.
Despite the worsening unemployment rate, there were some positive signs in the Bureau of Labor Statistics data release as the total number of nonfarm jobs grew in 10 of Michigan’s 15 metro areas.
Metro Detroit, by far the state’s largest population center, added more than 14,000 jobs from June 2024 to June 2025. The next biggest increase was for the Lansing-East Lansing area, which added 5,400 jobs.
The largest decline in total jobs was in the Niles area, near Michigan’s border with Indiana. The area has shed about 1,100 jobs since June 2024.
Preliminary state-level data for July suggest that Michigan overall has added 64,000 jobs in the past year. Three sectors were responsible for the bulk of that growth: Private education and health services (increase of 21,000 jobs), government (13,000) and construction (11,000).
Three sectors saw declines: Manufacturing (decrease of 1,000 jobs), retail trade (2,000) and professional and business services (9,000).
gschwab@detroitnews.com
@GrantSchwab
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