LANSING – Michigan’s labor force participation rate – a statistic considered important to show how many people are working or looking for work – of 60.2 percent is relatively unchanged from a year ago and is the lowest rate of the Great Lakes states, according to an economic report from the state.
The state with the highest participation rate, Minnesota, at 70.5 percent, is the third highest in the nation behind Nebraska at 71.6 percent and North Dakota at 71 percent.
The figures come from Key Labor and Economic Metrics, a report regularly released by the Department of Treasury,
Labor market participation is viewed by some economists as a key indicator of growth. Nationally, in the last 50 years, the overall ratio grew dramatically as more women entered the work force, but the level of workforce participation has declined in the last decade, hurt in part by the Great Recession.
The 60.2 percent the state recorded in February, the most recent data, was slightly below the 60.3 percent rate the state showed in February 2013.
Nationally, the state’s rate stood at 39th among the states. West Virginia, with a labor participation rate of 53.4 percent, had the lowest overall rate.
In 2013, with an average participation rate of 60.5 percent, Michigan stood at 38. At its worst, in 2011, with an average rate of 60.1 percent, it had the 44th highest rate. At its best, in 2000 with a participation rate of 68.9 percent, it had a national rank of 24th.
Michigan’s participation rate was the lowest among the Great Lakes States, even though Illinois had a higher unemployment rate at 8.7 percent in February (compared to Michigan’s 7.7 percent rate in February). Illinois had a labor participation rate of 65.4 percent during the month.
New York had the second lowest rate at 61.1 percent followed by Indiana at 62.8 percent. Ohio stood at 63.5 percent and Wisconsin was 68.1 percent.
The national average labor participation rate was 63 percent.
This story was provided by Gongwer News Service. To subscribe, click on Gongwer.Com
