Local unemployment rate hits 30% during April

April’s unemployment rate in St. Joseph County was 30.3 percent, as every county in the state experienced an increase during what was the first full month of jobs impacted by COVID-19.

The monthly labor-market analysis by the Michigan Department of Technology, Management and Budget, which showed the county’s jump in unemployment, was released Friday.

St. Joseph County was above the state’s unemployment average, which was 23.8 percent in April.

With the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, all 83 Michigan counties registered sharp jobless rate hikes over the month and year. Eighty Michigan counties in April recorded the highest unemployment rate since 1990.

Kalamazoo County featured the lowest unemployment rate in the region in April, at 17.2 percent. St. Joseph County had the highest unemployment rate in the region for the month.

Cass County’s unemployment rate for the month was 24.9 percent.