ST. PAUL-Minnesota's unadjusted job count passed the 3 million mark in June for the first time ever, according to figures released last week by the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development.
The agency said the state added 4,400 jobs in June on a seasonally adjusted basis and has gained 77,478 jobs over the past year, the biggest over-the-year job gain since May 1998. Job growth in Minnesota is up 2.6 percent over the past year, compared with a national job growth rate of 1.5 percent.
The state's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate held steady in June at 3.7 percent. The U.S. unemployment rate was 4.4 percent.
"The labor market continues to put up impressive numbers, with Minnesota adding 314,261 jobs since the recession ended eight years ago in June," said DEED Commissioner Shawntera Hardy in a news release. "All 11 of the state's industrial sectors have gained jobs in the past year, and nine of the 11 are growing faster than nationally."
Leisure and hospitality led all sectors in June with 4,500 new jobs. Other industries posting job gains were professional and business services (up 2,300), manufacturing (up 2,100), government (up 1,500) and construction (up 900).
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The following sectors lost jobs in June: education and health services (down 2,700), other services (down 1,500), financial activities (down 1,300), trade, transportation and utilities (down 700), information (down 600) and logging and mining (down 100).
Education and health services led all industries over the past year with 24,790 new jobs, followed by professional and business services (up 10,225), government (up 9,215), leisure and hospitality (up 8,429), construction (up 8,022), trade, transportation and utilities (up 7,293), manufacturing (up 4,170), other services (up 2,558), financial activities (up 1,250), information (up 798) and logging and mining (up 728).
In the Metropolitan Statistical Areas, all regions gained jobs in the past 12 months: Minneapolis-St. Paul MSA (up 3.3), Rochester MSA (up 1.9 percent), St. Cloud MSA (up 2.6 percent), Duluth-Superior MSA (up 2.8 percent) and Mankato MSA (up 2 percent).
DEED has added a section to its website that examines the unemployment rate by demographics (race, age and gender) and looks at alternative measures of unemployment.
DEED is the state's principal economic development agency, promoting business recruitment, expansion and retention, workforce development, international trade and community development. For more details about the agency and its services, visit https://mn.gov/deed/ or follow DEED on Twitter @mndeed.
