Minnesota Still Adding Jobs in Latest Unemployment Report

(KNSI) — Minnesota was still adding jobs in the fall, bucking the national trend.

The Department of Employment and Economic Development says the state added 8,900 jobs between September and November while the country as a whole was essentially flat. The unemployment rate is still on the rise, though, as gains were offset by a surge in Minnesotans looking for work.

Over the same two-month period, 8,500 state residents entered the labor force, which caused the unemployment rate to spike from 3.7% to 4%. DEED Commissioner Matt Varilek says, “Minnesota employers are adding jobs while the national labor market stalls out, which is good news for our state. We are monitoring our unemployment rate and working hard to connect workers to good jobs.”

Minnesota has added over 40,000 jobs in the past 12 months. The private sector accounted for roughly 99.5% of that. DEED keeps track of metro area job performance on a non-seasonally adjusted basis. St. Cloud was the worst-performing market, down 0.4%, or 431 positions. Rochester, buoyed by a Mayo expansion and a reenvisioning of its downtown, continues to lead on the jobs front.

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