Unemployment rises in the U.P.

Unemployment numbers for the month of February have seen little change in Michigan.

The Department of Technology, Management & Budget says seasonally unadjusted unemployment numbers are down in the state, but up in the Upper Peninsula.

In the U.P., the unemployment rate in February was 10.5%, two percentage points higher than January 2013.

The state’s unemployment rate fell from 9.7% percent to 9.3%, and has been falling since February of 2012.

Menominee, Marquette, Dickinson and Houghton Counties were the only U.P. counties to have unemployment rates below the state’s unemployment rate.

10 counties in the U.P. have rates above 10 percent; and six counties have unemployment rates below the U.P. average.

Ontonagon County’s unemployment rate is almost at 15 percent, followed by Keweenaw, Schoolcraft and Baraga counties.

Mackinac County has the highest unemployment rate in the state at almost 25 percent.