MARQUETTE, MI-- The Upper Peninsula unemployment rate moved lower by 1.2 percentage points in August to 4.1 percent.
It was the lowest August jobless rate for the region since August 1999, when the rate was also 4.1 percent. Mackinac County matched Ottawa County with the lowest unemployment rate in the state at 2.6 percent. Regionally, below-average unemployment rates were also reported in Dickinson County at 3.2 percent, Menominee County at 3.7 percent, and Iron and Marquette counties at 3.9 percent each.
Ontonagon County tied for the highest jobless rate in the state in August, at 6.2 percent.
The drop in the August jobless rates in many U.P. counties was primarily related to a seasonal reduction in the number of persons actively looking for work. Marquette was the only county to record a noticeable monthly employment advance.
