LANSING (AP) – The state says Michigan’s seasonally unadjusted unemployment rate dropped to 4.8 percent in April, down 0.9 points from the previous month and 2.1 points from a year earlier.

The Michigan Department of Technology, Management & Budget released state and regional employment figures Thursday. The department says the employment picture is brightening in most of the state, with 11 of 17 labor markets reporting jobless rates below the national average in April.

The department says April’s regional unemployment rates ranged from 3.2 percent in the Ann Arbor area and 3.3 percent in metropolitan Grand Rapids to 7.6 percent in the northeastern Lower Peninsula.

It says the jobless rate in populous metropolitan Detroit fell 0.9 points in April to 5.1 percent.