COLDWATER, MI (WTVB) – The jobless rate in Branch County and across Southwest Michigan went up last month but remains considerably below the figure from May of last year. The state reported on Thursday that Branch County had a 5.3% unemployment rate in May, up from 4.5% in April. In May of 2014, it was 6.7%.
Labor analysts said the rate increase resulted from a higher than normal influx of jobseekers into the marketplace. The local labor force jumped by 550 and that helped cause the bump up in unemployment despite the usual seasonal job gains during May in business services, construction, leisure and hospitality and retail trade.
By comparison to Branch County’s jobless rate of 5.3% in May, the state figure was 5.9% and the national average for last month was the same as the county’s at 5.3%.
