By Rick Pluta, Michigan Public Radio Network
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wkar/local-wkar-871684.mp3
LANSING, MI –
Michigan's jobless rate dipped slightly in October. The state's new unemployment rate of 15.1% is a drop of two-tenths of a percentage point from the September number.
Michigan saw a net gain of 39,000 jobs in October, mostly in construction and health care. Governor Granholm says she's pleased by the uptick in jobs, however slight, but adds that people should not read too much into the jobless numbers that have hovered at around 15% since June.
"It's holding," she says. "It went down a little bit. We did see a net increase in jobs. We look at that in a positive way, but it's certainly not signaling a definitive turn yet."
She says that's because auto companies and their suppliers are still restructuring. The jobless rate measures people who are out of work and looking for jobs. When part-time workers who want full-time employment, and people who've quit looking for jobs are figured in, the rate of unemployment and underemployment is 19%.