By Rick Pluta, Michigan Public Radio Network
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wkar/local-wkar-907883.mp3
Lansing, MI – Michigan's unemployment rate registered its biggest drop of the year in May. It fell four-tenths of a percentage point to 13.6 percent.
That means there were 19,000 people in the state who found work.
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Most of the new hires are temporary U.S. Census workers. Automotive employment remained flat, construction lost jobs, but durable goods factories and food plants were hiring.
Economist Bruce Weaver with the Michigan Department of Energy, Labor, and Economic Growth says there are still about 662,000 people in Michigan who are out of work and looking for jobs.
"What we've got is a lot of competition for every job opening, still a very, very high unemployment rate, but some indication of improvement," Weaver says.
The jobs picture now is a stark departure from a year ago, when the unemployment rate was still climbing, and General Motors and Chrysler had just filed for bankruptcy.