Unemployment is down

The state says Michigan’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate edged slightly down to its lowest level in six years. The Michigan Department of Technology, Management & Budget said Wednesday that April’s state jobless rate fell one-tenth of a percentage point to 7.4 percent. It’s the lowest since April 2008 and marks the eighth consecutive monthly decline. The national rate for April was 6.3 percent. Michigan’s jobless rate stood at 8.8 percent in April 2013. State labor market officials say the jobless rate has been nearly cut in half since the end of the last recession. Michigan’s unemployment rate was 14.2 percent in August 2009.  (AP)