Sept. 16 - Minnesota Gains 600 Jobs In August

ST. PAUL – Minnesota employers added 600 jobs in August, according to figures released today by the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED).

The state’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate edged up to 7 percent from July’s revised figure of 6.9 percent. Minnesota remained well under the U.S. unemployment rate, which also rose a tenth to 9.6 percent in August.

Minnesota has added 32,500 jobs in the past year, a growth rate of 1.2 percent. U.S. job growth during the same period was 0.2 percent.

“While Minnesota’s employment picture was relatively stable in August, we continue to see a steady pace of growth and outperform the country as a whole,” said DEED Commissioner Dan McElroy. “Growth in August was led by professional and business services, particularly in the area that includes temporary help – a leading economic indicator.”

Five of the state’s 11 sectors added jobs in August, led by professional and business services, which grew by 4,900 jobs. Administrative and support services, which includes temporary help, accounted for most of the growth in this sector.

Other gains occurred in education and health services (up 1,900), information (up 1,400), government (up 900), and mining and logging (up 100).

Job losses occurred in trade, transportation and utilities (down 3,500), construction (down 2,500), leisure and hospitality (down 1,800), other services (down 500), manufacturing (down 200) and financial activities (down 100).

Over the past year, job gains occurred in leisure and hospitality (up 14,600), professional and business services (up 13,400), education and health services (up 12,200), manufacturing (up 5,600), government (up 1,800),  information (up 900), and logging and mining (up 300).

Year-over-year job losses occurred in construction (down 8,100), other services (down 5,100), trade, transportation and utilities (down 1,800), and financial activities (down 1,200).

In the state Metropolitan Statistical Areas, job gains occurred in the past year in the St. Cloud MSA (up 0.7 percent), the Rochester MSA (up 1.5 percent), the Minneapolis-St. Paul MSA (up 0.4 percent), the Duluth-Superior MSA (up 0.9 percent) and the Mankato MSA (up 0.3 percent).

Survey on Green Jobs

DEED also announced preliminary results of an 18-month study identifying openings for green jobs in the state. In the first round of the study, DEED identified 488 green job openings in Minnesota in the fourth quarter of 2009, about 1.8 percent of the total number of openings during that period.

The most green job openings were in environmental cleanup/pollution reduction and prevention (37 percent), followed by education, regulation, compliance or public awareness (18 percent), energy efficiency and conservation (17 percent), renewable energy and alternative fuels (15 percent), and sustainable agriculture and natural resources conservation (13 percent).

The green jobs survey will use three rounds of DEED’s Job Vacancy Survey to gather information about green job vacancies in the state. DEED is conducting the green jobs survey with a $1.2 million grant from the U.S. Department of Labor. Results and green career profiles will be posted to www.MnEnergyCareers.org.

DEED is the state’s principal economic development agency, promoting business recruitment, expansion and retention, workforce development, international trade and community development. For more information about the agency and its services, visit DEED at www.PositivelyMinnesota.com.

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• All labor force data are subject to revision.
• The unemployment rate is the percentage of people actively seeking work compared with those in the labor force (employed plus unemployed).

Upon request, the information in this news release is available in an alternative format such as Braille, large print, audiotape or computer disk.

Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development
Communications Office
Phone 651/259-7161 or 1-800-657-3858 ∙ TTY 1-800-657-3973
www.PositivelyMinnesota.com