Seasonally unadjusted unemployment rates in January rose in all of the state’s 17 major labor market areas from December, according to the Michigan Department of Technology, Management & Budget. According to the Bureau of Labor Market Information & Strategic Initiatives, the trend is typical for January, as payroll jobs fall in many seasonal industry sectors with the onset of the winter months.

During January, jobless rate increases throughout the state’s various major labor markets ranged from 0.5 to 1.4 percent. Overall, since January 2017, jobless rates fell in 11 regions, including this area. The largest over-the-year reductions occurred in the Detroit-Warren-Dearborn area (-0.8), the Upper Peninsula (-0.6), and the Northwest Lower Michigan region (-0.4). The lattermost includes Antrim, Charlevoix, Emmet, Benzie, Grand Traverse, Kalkaska, Leelanau, Manistee, Missaukee, and Wexford Counties. In this area, the unemployment rate for January 2018 was 7.1 percent, compared with 7.5 percent a year ago. The rate for December 2017 was 6.0 percent. A total of 10,400 people were unemployed in a labor force of 147,500 in January this year; in January last year 11,000 were unemployed among a labor force of 146,200.

The report also ranked the state’s 83 counties in terms of unemployment. Of the local counties, Kalkaska ranked 66th with 9.0 percent unemployment. Benzie County ranked 60th at 8.3 percent, Leelanau 37th at 6.6 percent, and Grand Traverse County had an unemployment rate of 5.3 percent, ranking 18th.