Nationally, unemployment reached 6.1 percent in August and the country lost 84,000 jobs. This means the nation has lost a total of 605,000 jobs so far this year.

Detroit, which serves as America’s auto industry capital, has been hit especially hard as the price of oil continues to rise. In July, the Detroit-Livonia-Dearborn area had an unemployment rate of 10.9 percent, according to the United States Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics. Detroit’s total non-farm employment came in at 748,100, a decrease of 1.7 percent from last year.

Michigan’s unemployment rate stayed at 8.5 percent in July, according to the Michigan Department of Labor & Economic Growth. The state’s total employment decreased by 29,000 jobs, while unemployment decreased by 4,000 jobs, meaning the state’s labor force decreased by 33,000 over the month. In July 2007, Michigan had an unemployment rate of 7.1 percent.

According to the State of Michigan, the state’s average annual unemployment rate in 2007 was 7.2 percent, while the average unemployment rate for the first seven months of 2008 was 7.7 percent. While total employment in Michigan has declined every month since the beginning of the year, the workforce has seen a loss of 59,000 jobs, or 1.2 percent.

Since July 2007, the unemployment rate has increased by 65,000 jobs or 18.4 percent, while national unemployment has increased by 23.1 percent. As of July 2007, Michigan employed 5,016,000 people and that number dropped to 4,957,000 in July of this year.

Michigan payroll jobs in July decreased by 5,000 to a total of 4,213,000. From July 2007 to July 2008 payroll jobs have decreased by 49,000 or 1.1 percent.