ALPENA — The number of unemployed Northeast Michiganders fell sharply in April compared to March, state data released Thursday shows.

The Michigan Department of Technology, Management, and Budget says 1,393 people were unemployed last month across Alpena, Presque Isle, Montmorency, and Alcona counties, 675 fewer jobless people than the state counted in March.

That drove the region’s unemployment rate down nearly 3 percentage points to about 5.6% in April. That’s better than the 6% unemployment recorded in April 2022.

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While the unemployment rate can dip if people give up looking for work, last month’s improvement appears to have happened because more Northeast Michiganders found jobs. The region’s labor force — a measure of people either working or looking for work — grew by 167 people to 25,426.

Statewide, the unemployment rate fell from 4.1% in March to 2.9% last month.

Those figures are not seasonally adjusted.

Unemployment varied widely across the region.

Alpena County’s 4.2% rate ranked 40th-lowest among the state’s 83 counties.

At 7%, Presque Isle County had the state’s 11th-highest unemployment rate.

Montmorency County fared worse, with its 7.2% ranking ninth-worst in the state.

Alcona County’s 6.5% rate ranked 69th.

The least-unemployed county in Michigan last month was Southeast Michigan’s Livingston County, where DTMB recorded a scant 1.5% unemployment rate.

The most-unemployed county was Mackinac County, where the state recorded 13.4% unemployment.