Minnesota unemployment rate holds steady in September

ST. PAUL, Minn. (KEYC) - Minnesota’s unemployment rate holds steady at 2% in September according to numbers released Thursday by the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development.

September unemployment rate remains historically low at 2%, one-tenth of a point higher than August. The national rate is 3.5%. Minnesota’s labor force participation rate ticked down one-tenth of point to 68.1%, compared to the national rate of 62.3%.

DEED says Minnesota’s private sector gained 8,500 jobs in September, with Government losing 4,300 jobs.

“Minnesota’s economy is strong and continues to grow, with a new milestone today of 12 straight months of job growth,” said DEED Commissioner Steve Grove. “Our nation-leading unemployment rate continues to reveal a market full of opportunity – we’re committed to driving innovative approaches to help Minnesota businesses find the workers they need.”

Here are noteworthy sectors that gained or lost jobs on a seasonally adjusted basis over the month in September in Minnesota:

• Gains were in Education & Health Services up 3,200 jobs or 0.6%, Professional & Business Services up 1,600 jobs or 0.4%, Leisure & Hospitality, up 1,400 jobs or 0.6%, Manufacturing up 1,100 jobs or 0.3% and Construction up 900 jobs or 0.7%.
• Losses were in Government, down 4,300 jobs or 1%, Financial Activities down 900 jobs or 0.5%, Other Services down 700 jobs or 0.6%, and Information down 600 jobs or 1.4%. Mining & Logging had no change from last month.

Looking at unemployment and labor force participation by race and ethnicity in Minnesota, DEED says the labor force participation rate rose to 67.7% up nine-tenths of a point for Black workers, declined by two-tenths of a percent for white workers to 68.4% and fell 1.3 points to 79.1% for Hispanic workers, based on 12-month moving average. Unemployment rates also vary by racial and ethnic groups, based on 12-month moving averages, with Black Minnesotans seeing a continued decline in unemployment.

The Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan statistical area had the highest over the year employment change with a 3.9% increase, followed by St. Cloud at 3.3%, Rochester at 3.1% and Mankato and Fargo/Moorhead at 2.9% with Duluth at 2.6%. In the past 12 months, the Mankato MSA has added 1,587 jobs.

Copyright 2022 KEYC. All rights reserved.