The Detroit-Warren-Livonia metropolitan area posted the nation’s largest unemployment rate decrease in April compared with the same time a year ago, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics said Wednesday in a statement.
The unemployment rate in the region fell from 11.1 percent in April 2011 to 8.7 percent this April. The 2.4 percentage-point reduction was matched only by El Centro, Calif.
The jobless rate decrease was partially aided by a 43,700-person reduction in the civilian labor force. The total number of unemployed residents in the Detroit-Warren-Livonia area fell to 170,300 in April from 221,400 in April 2011, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said.
Unemployment rates in April fell in 92 percent of metropolitan areas, including all 14 metro areas in Michigan.
Michigan’s statewide unemployment rate fell from 9.4 percent last April, not seasonally adjusted, to 8 percent this April. The seasonally adjusted number for April is 8.3 percent.
The national unemployment rate in April was 7.7 percent, down from 8.7 percent a year earlier.
By Karl Henkel, The Detroit News
