By Abbey Kwiatkowski
Baraga County, MI – Baraga County has again posted as Michigan's highest unemployment rate for the month of September. Baraga was included in 3 counties in the Western Upper Peninsula where unemployment numbers grew from 23.8 percent to 24.3 percent. The Upper Peninsula as a whole has seen unemployment rates rise since last year. In September, the U.P. jobless rate was at 11.5 percent, 2 points higher than the national rate however, well below Michigan's 14.8 percent. In contrast, Keweenaw County, saw a decrease in jobless rates, moving from 13.2 percent to 11.9 percent. Some economic experts are blaming the increase on a smaller labor force work with a number of 155,900 in September, compared to 157,900 a year ago.