UNEMPLOYMENT
The Michigan Department of Labor & Economic Growth reported that in 2007, Livingston County’s annual average unemployment rate for 2007 was 5.7%. This figure is based on a labor force of 93,951 persons, 88,635 of which are employed and 5,316 which are unemployed. By comparison, Michigan’s 2007 unemployment rate was 7.2%, while the rate for the US was 4.6%.

When making comparisons of unemployment figures across the seven-county SEMCOG region, Livingston County fairs quite favorably. The table above provides unemployment figures for the SEMCOG region for the period 2000 to 2007. It shows that for that period, Livingston County had consistently the second to the lowest unemployment rate in the region, bested only by Washtenaw County. The table also shows that, as a region, unemployment rates have steadily risen in the past eight years. OCCUPATIONS The term “occupation” describes the kind of work the person does on the job. It is no big surprise that with Livingston County’s high median household income, the majority of the county’s Census 2000 employed civilian population 16 years of age and over is engaged in Management, professional, and related occupations (36.8%). The second largest occupational category is Sales and office occupations (26%) and the third is Production, transportation and material moving occupations (13.9%). The Farming, Fishing, and Forestry occupational category contains the smallest number of employees and percent of employed population in Livingston County (0.2%). While the employers of many Livingston County employees are not located within the county, it is interesting to examine the geographic distribution of occupations within the county. For instance, more than half (58%) of the persons employed in the Management, professional, and related occupations category reside in the townships of: Brighton, Genoa, Green Oak, Hamburg, and Hartland which are primarily located in the southeast quadrant of the county. In Brighton Township alone, this occupational category comprises 45.3% of their employed civilian population aged 16 and older. Sales and office occupations comprise at least 25% of the employed civilian population in every Livingston County community except: Handy, Iosco, Tyrone and Unadilla Townships and the villages of Fowlerville and Pinckney. In the Production, transportation and material moving occupational category, the Township of Handy and the Village of Fowlerville on the western side of Livingston County, have the largest percentage (over 20%) of their employed civilian population in this occupational category.  When it comes to the small Farming, fishing and forestry occupational category, Iosco Township contains more of these employees than any other township(53 of 141 employees).  INDUSTRY The Census Bureau defines industry as the kind of business conducted by a person’s employing organization. Many of these employing organizations may not be located in Livingston County. Nearly one quarter of the employed civilian population age 16 and over (23.4%) reported that they were employed by a Manufacturing organization. The second largest employment industry is Educational, health and social services (18.2%) and the third is Retail trade (12.2%). Geographically, the Manufacturing Industry employs over 20% of the employed civilian population in all county communities except the City of Brighton and the Village of Pinckney, which nearly approach this percentage level.  The Educational, health and social services industrial category contains the most employees in Brighton, Hamburg and Tyrone townships. Retail, which is the third largest employment industry in the county comprises 8.2 to 17.8% of all Livingston County communities, with all communities except Genoa and Unadilla townships reporting that over 10% of their employed civilian population is employed by a retail organization. AGRICULTURE The U.S. Bureau of the Census conducts an agriculture census every 5 years for years ending in “2" and “7". The Census defines a farm as any place from which $1,000 or more of agricultural products were produced and sold or normally would have been sold during the census year. The 2002 Census of Agriculture reveals that in the twenty years from 1982 to 2002, the total number of farms in Livingston County has only slightly decreased (-0.8%) from 884 farms to 877 farms.  However, the total farm acreage in the county has changed more dramatically by -30.2% or41,608 acres from 137,918 acres to 96,310 acres. The average number of acres per farm in Livingston County has also significantly decreased from an average 156 in 1982 to 110 in 2002. Overall, total farm acreage has decreased as urbanized developments have gradually taken over. COMMUTING TO WORK The 2006 American Community Survey recorded that there are 92,960 Livingston County residents that commute to work. Livingston County residents who commute to work outside of Livingston County: 45,884 Livingston County residents commute out of the county to work. Most of these Livingston County commuters are employed in Oakland (17,064 workers), Washtenaw (11,033) and Wayne (10,549) counties. This pattern is consistent with figures from the 1990 Census.  The average travel time to work for Livingston County commuters is 31 minutes. Most commuters drive to work alone (87.1%). Carpooling is the second most common means of commuting to work, however only 7.7% of commuters responding to this 2000 Census question reported that they carpool. Livingston County residents who work in Livingston County: 33,845 Livingston County residents work within the county.  This is more than half (62.7%) of the 54,000 workers employed in Livingston County. The remaining 37.3% of workers employed in Livingston County, commute from outside the county.  Most of the workers who commute to work in Livingston County come from Oakland and Genesee counties; in fact, the percent of commuters from Genesee County has substantially increased between the 1990 and 2000 Census from 3.9% to 7.8% of total commuters who work in Livingston County.