19 October 2023
Minnesota added 8,000 jobs in September and the unemployment rate held steady at 3.1%, the state’s Department of Employment and Economic Development said Thursday.
The release also noted that the state’s job growth of 0.3% outpaced the nation. The state unemployment rate compares to a national rate of 3.8%.
The state’s labor force grew for the seventh month in a row, adding more than 1,500 workers, DEED said. That gives the state a labor force participation rate at 68.5%, steady for the third straight month. This measures the portion of the population that is working or actively seeking work and is used to calculate the main unemployment rate. Nationally, the labor force participation rate was 62.8%
“Minnesota continues to add jobs and draw more people into the labor force — that’s great news,” DEED Commissioner Matt Varilek said in the news release. “DEED is focused on helping more people join or rejoin the labor force on in-demand career paths. New DEED programs, like our Drive for 5 Initiative launched last week, will do just that.”
The Drive for 5 effort works to prepare Minnesotans for high-demand jobs in five occupational categories: technology, the trades, caring professions, manufacturing, and education, according to DEED.
By the numbers, the state added 6,000 jobs to Education and Health Services; Leisure and Hospitality gained 2,400 jobs; Trade, Transportation and Utilities gained 1,900 jobs; and Government gained 1,800 jobs. The Professional and Business Services sector lost 3,600 jobs.
Construction gained 7,322 jobs, up 5.1% compared with 2.7% nationally.
A broader measure of unemployment, factoring in people who have voluntarily dropped out of the work force, stood at 5.4%, up from 5.3% in August.
The unemployment rate for Blacks in September was 2.3% in September; 5.8% for Hispanics and 3.1% for whites.
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