Minnesota Celebrates Record Number of Jobs

(KNSI) – Minnesota gained 7,000 jobs but the unemployment still ticked up by a tenth of a percent in October.

The Department of Employment and Economic Development is celebrating a new record high in the labor force. For the first time ever, over three million people are working in the state. DEED says there are still about 200,000 job openings across Minnesota, meaning there is an opportunity to begin hunting for a job or find an entry-level position after you graduate from school.

The state’s unemployment rate rose to 3.2%. It is calculated using the household survey, which was less rosy in October than the business survey that determines job gains. The labor force dipped by 84 people, so the unemployment rate jump is due to layoffs reported by individuals.

Minnesota added over 42,000 jobs statewide in the past year but not every sector performed well. We lost 8,346 professional and services jobs, over 7,400 financial activities positions, and 4,270 manufacturing jobs. Education and healthcare saw the most hiring in the last 12 months.

DEED Deputy Commissioner Kevin McKinnon says, “In October, we saw more good news in job growth, while we saw a pause in labor force growth after nearly three quarters of more and more people looking for work and landing jobs. DEED continues to work hard to make sure Minnesotans know about all the great reasons to join the labor force right now.”

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