Minnesota job numbers slowly rebounding

MANKATO, Minn. (KEYC) — Job growth continues to slowly rebound in Minnesota after a rough spring and early summer.

According to the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development, Minnesota added 40,500 payroll jobs in August, up 1.5% from July.

And the state’s unemployment numbers have dropped since reaching a high of 9.9% in May. July’s numbers indicate unemployment is now hovering right around 7.6%.

While the numbers still are not as good as one year ago, DEED Commissioner Steve Grove thinks there is reason for optimism.

“The national unemployment rate that you saw last week is at 8.4% so we are still about a point under the nation. The nation’s unemployment rate came down considerably in August compared to the month before and of course it peaked at 14.7% back in April.”

The number of unemployed workers in Minnesota now stands at about 231,000. This is down nearly 5,000 from July and down 71,000 since May when numbers peaked.

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