ALPENA — It appears most of the more than 150 people who lost their jobs when Decorative Panels International shuttered in late February may have been able to find work, as the area’s unemployment rate actually dipped slightly from February to March and remained lower last month than a year ago.

Joblessness across Alpena, Presque Isle, Montmorency, and Alcona counties hit 7.2% last month, according to data released Thursday by the Michigan Department of Technology, Management, and Budget. That’s down slightly from 7.6% in February and lower than the 8.3% reported in March 2023.

Alpena County’s unemployment fell slightly, from 5.1% in February to 4.8% in March.

The DPI plant was located in Alpena before officials announced its closure on Feb. 22.

Northeast Michigan remains significantly more unemployed than the state as a whole. The statewide unemployment rate last month was 3.9%, down from 4.2% in February.

Those figures are not seasonally adjusted.

Northeast Michigan’s joblessness fell as more people started looking for work and fewer people went without a job.

The area’s labor force — a measure of people either working or looking for work — climbed by 323 people from February to March, according to state figures. The labor force can grow if more people enter working age or move to the area or if people who had given up looking for work start hunting again.

Northeast Michigan’s labor force stood at 26,419 people last month.

Meanwhile, the number of unemployed — those looking for work but unable to find it — fell by 102 people from February to March. The unemployed count can fall if people find work, move out of the area, retire, or otherwise stop looking for work.

The number of unemployed Northeast Michiganders stood at 1,800 people last month.

That the labor force grew while the ranks of unemployed shrank usually indicates more people are finding work.

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Alpena County’s 4.8% unemployment last month tied with the Thumb Region’s Lapeer County for the 37th-lowest among Michigan’s 83 counties.

Presque Isle County’s 10% was the state’s third-highest.

Montmorency County’s 9.3% was the state’s sixth-highest.

Alcona County’s 8.3% was the ninth-highest.

The most unemployed Michigan county last month was Mackinac County, where 17.8% of working-age individuals couldn’t find a job.

The least unemployed county was Southeast Michigan’s Livingston County, where just 2.7% were out of work.