Unemployment Increased

For the first time since the middle of 2011, St. Joseph County’s monthly unemployment rate saw an increase from the previous month.

The county’s December unemployment rate was 9.2 percent, a nine-tenths of a percent increase from November’s 8.3 percent.

Data released by the Michigan Department of Technology, Management and Budget Analysis shows the 9.2 percent figure was still a full 2 percent less than the county’s last-month-of-the-year number 12 months earlier.

The county’s unemployment increase was consistent with figures in all regional counties for December.

Michigan’s unemployment rate for the month was an even 9 percent.