COLDWATER, MI (WTVB) – Branch County starts the New Year with a jobless rate that hasn’t been this low in 14 years. The State said this week that unemployment in November fell to 4.9%, down a half percent from the October figure of 5.4%. A year ago during the same period it was 7.4%. It was back in October of 2002 that the county’s jobless rate was below 5%, just barely, at 4.9%.
The best unemployment number in West Michigan was found in Kent County at 3.5%t, tied with Washtenaw County for lowest in the state. The state’s unemployment rate for November was 5.7%.
