Unemployment numbers down from a year ago

The January unemployment rate in St. Joseph County increased by 1 percent compared to a month earlier.
The monthly labor-market analysis by the Michigan Department of Technology, Management and Budget showed St. Joseph County’s 5.2 percent January unemployment rate was more than December’s 4.2 percent.
January’s unemployment rate, however, was 1.9 percent less than the same month one year earlier, when the figure was 7.1 percent.
St. Joseph County remained below the state unemployment average, which was 6.6 percent in January.
The agency said seasonal job reductions in leisure, construction and hospitality were factors in the unemployment increase.
At 4.9 percent, Kalamazoo County had the region’s lowest unemployment rate in January, while VanBuren County had the highest, at 8.1 percent.