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Wednesday, March 10, 2010

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Brainerd's jobless rate jumps to 19 percent

Crow Wing County rate though significantly lower at 11.4 percent in January

By RENEE RICHARDSON

Senior Reporter

Brainerd's jobless rate jumped nearly 2 percent in January to reach 19 percent.

It is the highest unemployment for a city with a population of 10,000 or more in the state.

By the numbers

For an indication of the unemployment rate's history, here are the area counties and the jobless rate percentages a year ago in January, two years ago in January 2008 and three years ago in January 2007.

Aitkin, 13.5, 9.3, 9.5.

Cass, 14.7, 10.8, 10.5.

Crow Wing, 12.3, 7.9, 7.7.

Mille Lacs, 15.3, 10.4, 10.4.

Morrison, 14.6, 8.7, 9.4.

Todd, 11.2, 7.5, 7.5.

Wadena, 13.3, 11, 10.1.

The state released the latest county and city numbers Tuesday. For December, Brainerd's unemployment rate was 17.1 percent. The city's jobless rate has been on a steady climb since posting a 12.2 percent in September, which was its lowest jobless rate for all of 2009. The lowest unemployment rates for the city in recent years included a 9.8 percent in 2008 and 7.1 percent in 2007 and 5.7 percent in 2006.

The number of people without jobs typically climbs in the lakes area during the winter months before it begins a drop in March or April as seasonal jobs pick up.

In January 2009, Brainerd's jobless rate was 21 percent, which was the highest recorded for the city on a state report going back to January 2000.

Seven other cities out of 66 in the large city category had double-digit unemployment rates. In addition to Brainerd, those seven cities included: Grand Rapids at 15 percent, Bemidji at 14.5 percent, Hutchinson and Virginia each at 11.7 percent, Hibbing at 11.4 percent, Cloquet at 10.8 percent and Faribault at 10.5 percent.

The cities with the lowest unemployment rate - at 4.1 percent - were Moorhead and Marshall. Minneapolis has an unemployment rate of 6.8 percent.

In the Brainerd micropolitan area, covering Crow Wing and Cass counties, the jobless rate was 12 percent for January - a jump from 10.7 percent in December. The last time the micropolitan area had a jobless rate this high was a year ago when it posted a 12.9 percent in March of last year. The micropolitan area's highest jobless rate in 2009 was 13 percent.

In the seven-county area, the jobless rates increased across the board since December. It's been a steady climb since October.

The January unemployment rates were:

12.4 percent in Aitkin County.

13.3 percent in Cass County.

11.4 percent in Crow Wing County.

14.1 percent in Mille Lacs County.

12.2 percent in Morrison County.

9.9 percent in Todd County.

12 percent in Wadena County.

The county numbers are all higher than the state and national rates. Minnesota's January unemployment rate was 8.2 percent, or 241,096 people, with a seasonally adjusted jobless rate of 7.3 percent. The national jobless rate was 10.6 percent in January with a seasonally adjusted rate of 9.7 percent.

RENEE RICHARDSON may be reached at renee.richardson@brainerddispatch.com or 855-5852.

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