MARQUETTE -- As summer tourism in the U.P. increases, the jobless rate in most counties goes down. That's what the May unemployment numbers show. Most counties in the U.P. declined in unemployment, with the exception of Houghton and Marquette, in light of universities scaling down for the summer.
Marquette is still lower than the national rate at 7.3 percent. The eastern U.P. normally sees a dramatic drop in unemployment as summer tourism rises. Mackinac County dropped from 20 percent to just above 6 percent in the last two months.
"If it's a good tourism season, you probably will see the rate go down to three or four percent. I think in years when summer tourism has been really strong, you've seen it go down to high twos or threes, and so Mackinac has probably the greatest seasonal adjustment," said Dennis West, President of Northern Initiatives.
The highest unemployment rate remains in Baraga County with 15.7 percent.
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