Minnesota unemployment drops to lowest level since 2019

BIZ-JOBS-GET — Minnesota gained 11,500 jobs in March, the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED), said Thursday, bringing the state’s unemployment rate to 2.5% from 2.7% in February. This compares with a U.S. unemployment rate of 3.6% reported for March.

By St. Paul Pioneer Press

January 21, 2022 at 9:32 AM

ST. PAUL -- Minnesota’s unemployment rate fell two-tenths of a percentage point to 3.1% in December, the lowest level since 2019.

The drop comes on the strength of revised numbers for November; the state actually lost 2,000 jobs in December. The latest seasonally adjusted figures released Thursday by the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development revised job gains in November upward to 8,600 jobs, a 5,000 jobs adjustment.

“Today’s jobs report is a reminder that economic progress in these times is not a straight line,” DEED Commissioner Steve Grove said in a statement, noting that job growth has been uneven coming out of the pandemic recession. “The good news remains that our economy is bursting with great job opportunities.”

The national unemployment rate fell three-tenths of a percentage point to 3.9% for December.

Minnesota lost 416,300 jobs the months of February, March and April in 2020 as the pandemic first hit the state. The state has since regained 307,400, or 74 percent, of those jobs since.

The DEED report Thursday notes the pandemic’s economic impact has been hard to measure. Along with the job cuts and temporary layoffs, some people dropped out of the workforce altogether. The state’s labor force participation rate in December remained 67.7% from the month before, though a decrease from 69.2% in December 2020. Nationally, the rate was 61.9% for this past month.