Rochester Area Labor Force Has Shrunk by Over 4500 Workers
Rochester, MN (KROC-AM News) - For the first time in six months, the Rochester area did not have the highest unemployment rate in the region last month.
The latest jobs statistics from the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development put the jobless rate for Olmsted County at 3.6-percent in October. That's just 9-10ths of a percentage above the unemployment rate reported for the Rochester area in March before the economic impact of the pandemic began showing up in the statistics. It's also 63-percent below the peak in the jobless rate of 9.8-percent that was reported in May. The October report also shows the size of the local labor force has shrunk by over 4500 workers since rising in May to over 90,700.
The region's highest unemployment rate region in October was found in Dodge County, where it rose 7-tenths of a point to 4.3-percent. Houston County reported the lowest rate in southeastern Minnesota at 2.3-percent, while Goodhue County saw the largest drop last month. Its jobless rate fell 1.2 percentage points to 3.1-percent.
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