Rochester Area Continued to Lead Minnesota For Job Growth in May

Rochester, MN (KROC-AM News) - The latest jobs data for southeastern Minnesota is a "mixed bag."

Olmsted County continued to report the lowest unemployment rate in the region last month at 2%. According to the data from the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development, the rate was up a tenth of a percentage point from April but was a tenth of a point lower than the jobless rate from May of last year.

The State also reported that the Rochester Metropolitan Statistical Area, which includes portions of counties adjacent to Olmsted County, continued to enjoy the strongest job growth rate in the state last month. It is estimated the local economy has added more than 4700 jobs over the past year for a growth rate of 3.8%.

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Across the region, the majority of the counties also reported slight increases in their unemployment rates. Dodge County had the highest jobless rate at 2.9%, which was up 3-tenths of a percentage point from April. It was also a half-percentage point higher than the unemployment rate for Dodge County a year ago.

Olmsted and Goodhue Counties had the highest number of people officially categorized as unemployed. There were more than 1800 in Olmsted County and just over 700 in Goodhue County. Houston County has the lowest number of unemployed people at around 250.