LANSING, Mich. (Michigan News Source) — Michigan’s unemployment may have steadied slightly in May—but not enough to shake its next-to-last place standing among the 50 states.

New figures from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics show the state’s unemployment rate dipped from 5.5% to 5.4% last month—enough to rank 49th in the nation. Only Nevada fared worse, also logging a 5.5% rate. Nationally, the rate held steady at 4.2%.

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It’s the third month in a row Michigan has landed in the same unenviable spot.

Despite the small gain, the underlying picture remains weak. While about 1,000 fewer Michiganders were officially unemployed in May, the state’s labor force also shrank by 7,000, suggesting more people may have stopped looking for work altogether.

“Michigan’s labor market remained stable over the month,” Wayne Rourke, director of labor market information at the state’s Center for Data and Analytics, told The Detroit News. 

The bigger concern may be the year-over-year trend. In May 2024, Michigan’s unemployment rate was 4.5%. This May: 5.4%. That’s the second-largest increase nationwide—behind only Mississippi.

Manufacturing is a big part of the story, according to The Detroit News. Specifically, the state shed 11,000 factory jobs over the past year, dropping from 610,000 to 599,000. 

Even California, long considered a high-unemployment state, edged ahead of Michigan with a jobless rate of 5.3% in May. The two states were tied back in February, but Michigan has remained stuck in second-to-last place since March.