20 July 2023
Minnesota on Thursday reported a new loss 4,300 jobs in June, on a seasonally adjusted basis, with the state’s private sector losing 6,500 jobs.
Minnesota’s unemployment rate remained steady at 2.9% in June, the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development reported. Nationally, the unemployment rate was 3.6%. Looking at job growth over the year, both Minnesota and the U.S. as a whole are up 2.4%, DEED reported.
The state did report an increase in the labor force of 9,017, up two-tenths of a percentage point to 68.4%, compared with 62.6% nationally. This rate measured the total number of people working or seeking work compared with the population as a whole.
“More workers mean more good news for Minnesota. Our economy is strong with low unemployment, a growing labor force and recognition as one of the top five states in the nation for business,” said DEED Commissioner Matt Varilek in a news release. “While job growth didn’t continue this month, the long term trend remains strong: out of the past 12 months, Minnesota has posted job gains in nine of them.”
Most of June’s job losses came from the Leisure and Hospitality supersector, which shed 5,300 positions on a seasonally adjusted basis, DEED said. Still, this area has created more than 14,200 jobs over the year. Last month Government gained 2,200 jobs and Trade, Transportation, and Utilities, gained 1,200 jobs.
In June, Black unemployment was steady at 2.4% while the white jobless rate was 2.8%, also the same as May. Unemployment among Hispanics rose to 5.9% from 5.7%.
In alternate measures of unemployment, the broadest measure, called the U-6, was steady at 5.3%. This measure also factors in people who are not part of the labor force, either voluntarily unemployed and not seeking work, marginally employed or employed part-time.
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