Michigan’s January jobs report shows the state’s monthly unemployment rate remained flat at 5% heading into 2026. The report also shows the state’s workforce decreased slightly from December to January.
Michigan Bureau of Labor Market Information Director Wayne Rourke said Michigan’s workforce declined by 1.6% over the course of 2025, which is largely due to older people retiring and exiting the workforce.
“It’s a trend that we’ve been seeing for about a year and a half,” he said. “There’s just less workers in Michigan out there either working or looking for jobs.”
University of Michigan economist Gabriel Ehrlich said the big story in the data is the revised annual unemployment number for 2025. He says the government folds in more information throughout the year to come up with a more detailed and accurate employment picture.
He says the revised number shows Michigan essentially held steady in 2025, instead of showing likely job gains in the early wave of data collected.
“But I don’t think it changes our fundamental understanding,” he said. “You know, we’ve been saying, listen, Michigan is in a soft patch for growth right now, and I think that’s still the correct interpretation. And let’s be honest, hanging in, in kind of a tough external environment.”
The federal government released the national jobs report for March on Friday. It showed the nation added jobs last month and the unemployment rate ticked down.
Michigan is still playing catch up on its monthly jobs reports after the partial federal government shutdown last year delayed data collection. The Michigan Department of Technology, Management & Budget is planning two more reports in April to get caught up.
