LANSING – Unemployment rates continued to drop during the month of October across Southwest Michigan.

Data released by the Michigan Department of Technology, Management and Budget shows that St. Joseph County dropped 3.1 percent, going from 7.3 percent in September to 4.2 percent in October.

Cass County saw a drop in their unemployment from 7.4 percent to 4.4 percent, a change of 3 percent. Branch County went from 7 percent unemployment in September to 4.1 percent in October, a drop of 2.9 percent. Hillsdale County saw a decrease of 2.7 percent, going from 6.8 percent to 4.1 percent.

Statewide in Michigan, the unemployment rate dropped from 8.2 in September to 5.1 percent in October, a change of 3.1 percent. Wayne Rourke, Associate Director of the Bureau of Labor Market Information and Strategic Initiatives says the regional jobless rates continued to decrease in October with modest recalls of workers from pandemic related layoffs. Unfortunately, industry jobs remain well below October 2019 levels.