Mission Accomplished?

It may be just a bit early to declare victory and say that the recession is over... at least in Michigan.

Michigan

Data Series	Back Data	June 2009	July 2009	Aug 2009	Sept 2009	Oct 2009	Nov 2009
Labor Force Data
Civilian Labor Force (1)		4,869.2	4,857.1	4,844.7	4,833.0	4,850.0	(P) 4,845.7
Employment (1)		4,129.2	4,126.9	4,108.7	4,093.9	4,116.9	(P) 4,133.1
Unemployment (1)		740.0	730.2	736.0	739.1	733.1	(P) 712.6
Unemployment Rate (2)		15.2	15.0	15.2	15.3	15.1	(P) 14.7

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

Still, this does represent something of an improvement. The real questions are:

1. is the improvement partially due to Michigan continuing to lose population?
2. what happens in January when the Christmas retail season is over?

This might be the start of a Happy New Year... or just another statistical bump in the Michigan economic roller coaster.