Brewed Fresh Daily

The numbers, on the surface, look encouraging: Michigan’s unemployment rate has dropped again. New claims for unemployment benefits fell this month. Manufacturing output is rising.

Ford's Rouge plant, by Charles Sheeler

But there’s another side to the jobs numbers: people simply giving up on finding work. (Take our Changing Gears survey.)

The conflicting numbers make it hard to get a clear picture of the jobs market.

Here’s what we know:

• Michigan’s unemployment rate fell to 9.3 percent in December, but the size of the workforce continues to drop, according to our partner station Michigan Radio. It says Michigan’s unemployment rate plus the “under-employment” rate (people working part time jobs because that’s all they can find, or in fields not related to their expertise) is 18.8 percent.
• Nationally, initial claims for unemployment benefits dropped by 50,000, to a seasonally adjusted 352,000. It’s the lowest figure since April 2008, says the Labor Department. Reuters reports that economists are watching for the seasonal number to drop to 350,000, which would be an indication that jobs growth is stronger.
• Manufacturing output rose 0.9 percent from November to December, the Federal Reserve said on Wednesday. Overall, it’s up 15 percent since the depth of the recession. Factories added 23,000 jobs in December, the most since July.

But there are concerns about the job market, in part because of the prospect that gasoline prices will rise this winter and into the spring. Consumer comfort dropped last week, in part due to a 20-cent a gallon rise over the past month, Bloomberg says.

We’d like to get a handle on your job prospects. Changing Gears would like to know if you’ve recently found work, or if you’re among those who’ve given up on landing a job. Please take our survey and we’ll be reporting on this situation as we sift through the results.