Grand Rapids Reporter

Kent County recorded an unemployment rate of 4.7% among residents aged 16 and 65 years old in 2021. That’s 16,859 people out of the 654,958 living in Kent County at the time, according to data obtained from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The unemployment rate in Kent County has increased compared to the 4.6% registered in 2020.

The percentage of people unemployed in Kent County was less than the statewide unemployment rate of 6.2%.

Of the 339,020 people who had a job during that time, 171 were employed in the Armed Forces and 338,849 belonged to the civilian labor force.

Employment status	Number of people	Percentage of population
Unemployed	16,859	4.7%
Employed	339,020	95.3%
Employed in civilian labor force	338,849	95.2%
Employed in armed forces	171	0%