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Michigan Jobless Rate Dips Slightly

LANSING (WWJ/AP) - State officials say Michigan's jobless rate continues to fall, dropping slightly to 10.3 percent in March.

The Department of Energy, Labor and Economic Growth reported Wednesday that the seasonally adjusted jobless rate fell a tenth of a percentage point in a month and 3 percentage points over the past year.

Michigan remains above the national rate of 8.8 percent.

A state official said Michigan's labor market show steady improvement over the first three months of 2011, with the state's work force stabilizing after declining throughout most of 2010.

The number of private sector payroll jobs has increased by 98,000 since March 2010, up 3.1 percent. But public sector jobs have been lost, so the total increase in jobs is 79,000, up 2.1 percent. 

WWJ and Fox 2 Business Editor Murray Feldman said that many of the new jobs we're seeing this year are in factories and manufacturing, especially in the areas of IT and engineering.
  
The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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