Minnesota Jobless Rate and Job Growth Higher in May
St. Paul, MN (KROC-AM News) - Minnesota’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate last month matched a post Great Recession low from June 2015 even though the state’s economy experienced a net loss of over 7000 jobs.
The latest data from the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development shows the state’s jobless rate slid a tenth of a point from April, and the 3.7-percent rate was two-tenths of a point below the rate from May of last year.
Despite the job losses last month, Minnesota has seen a net gain of over 48,000 jobs during the past 12 months, and 28,000 of those jobs were added since the start of this year. The state’s job growth rate, which has regularly fallen below the national average in recent years, was two percentage points above the national rate in May at 1.7-percent.
The vast major of Minnesota’s job growth has been in the Twin Cities area, which accounted for about 80-percent of the 48,000 net gain in jobs during the past year. The Rochester area’s contribution was around 1300 jobs for a growth rate of 1.1 percent. Outside of the Twin Cities, the St. Cloud has seen the strongest growth, with a net gain of over 2200 jobs and a job growth rate of 2.1-percent.