Minnesota Gains 11,900 Jobs, Unemployment Increases

St. Paul, MN – The state of Minnesota gained 11,900 jobs in December according the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development’s (DEED) release on Thursday.

November’s numbers were also revised. While a gain of 5,000 jobs was originally tallied, that number has been reexamined and now sits at 12,700 jobs gained.

In spite of this, Minnesota’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate ticked slightly upwards from 3.8 to 3.9 percent in December. This was still below the United States’ rate of 4.7 percent for the month. The U.S.’ rate also increased by 0.1 percent from the November levels.

“The Minnesota labor market had a strong finish to the year, adding 24,600 jobs in the final two months,” DEED Commissioner Shawntera Hardy said, “Construction, in particular, had a noteworthy year, adding more than 7,400 jobs and growing 6.9 percent, well ahead of the national pace.”

Four different industries saw job gains in excess of 1,000 jobs in December. Government employment saw the biggest gains, at 3,700 jobs. Construction was close behind at 3,500, followed by education and health services at 2,800, and professional and business services at 2,200 jobs gained.

The leisure and hospitality sector in Minnesota lost 1,800 jobs in December. Information saw 100 jobs lost, and other services lost a total of 400 in the month.

From December 2015 to December 2016 the Minnesota non-seasonally adjusted unemployment rate increased 0.3 percent to 4.0 percent. In the same time span, the United States’ rate as a whole fell 0.3 percent. It currently sits at 4.5 percent.

In the past year, the education and health services sector in Minnesota added 18,595 jobs, the most of any sector. Leisure and hospitality lost the most total jobs, at 5,934.

All of the metropolitan areas in Minnesota saw the total number of employed persons increase. Rochester’s metro area had the greatest rate of increase, with a 2.6 percent growth. The Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington metropolitan area added the most total jobs, at 27,693.

Anders Koskinen