Michigan’s unemployment rate fell to 8.3% in April – a drop of two-tenths of a percentage point.That news came amid predictions that Michigan’s economic recovery will continue, but at a slower pace than it has.
George Fulton is a University of Michigan economist.
He says Michigan’s jobless rate remains high, but the state has been outpacing the nation in creating new jobs.
“The largest job gains have been the higher wage sector and we see job growth continuing for the next few years, but not quite at the pace we saw last year,” he says.
Fulton says that’s largely because of an expected slowdown in car and truck sales, plus overall slow growth in the national economy. He says that is threatened by instability in the European economy that could derail progress on this side of the Atlantic.
Still the mostly good economic news was enough to convince state budget officials to up their revenue projections based on expected income improvements and more consumer spending.