Dec. 17 - State Employers Add 2,000 Jobs in November

ST. PAUL – Minnesota employers added 2,000 jobs in November, according to figures released today by the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED). October’s job gains were also revised upward to 5,000 from 2,200.

The state unemployment rate fell 0.2 percent to a seasonally adjusted 7.4 percent, which was 2.6 percent below the U.S. unemployment rate of 10 percent in November.

“State labor markets continue to show signs of improvement,” said DEED Commissioner Dan McElroy. “We are also seeing a steady uptick in the average amount of hours worked, another sign of strengthening market conditions.”

In Minnesota the average hours worked per week by employees has increased from 32.2 hours in September, to 32.6 in October and 33.1 in November.

Trade, transportation and utilities gained the most jobs in November, adding 2,600 positions, with particular strength in the retail sector. Gains were also seen in professional and business services (up 1,700), construction (up 1,200), manufacturing (up 800), financial activities (up 400), and logging and mining (up 200).

Job losses occurred in government (down 2,400), education and health services (down 1,100), information (down 900), other services (down 400), and leisure and hospitality (down 100).

Over the past year, education and health services has added 8,300 jobs in the state.

Job losses have occurred in the past 12 months in manufacturing (down 36,500), professional and business services (down 17,600), trade, transportation and utilities (down 15,600), construction (down 6,000), government (down 5,000), other services (down 3,800), information (down 3,000), leisure and hospitality (down 3,000), logging and mining (down 1,200), and financial activities (down 600).

Over the past year, Minnesota has lost about 83,900 positions or 3 percent of its jobs. During that same period, the U.S. lost about 3.4 percent of its jobs.

“I am optimistic about the positive trend of this employment data, but economic recovery is still in its early stages. I encourage people looking for work to visit their local WorkForce Center for help finding a new job,” McElroy said.

In the state’s Metropolitan Statistical Areas, over-the-year job losses occurred in the Duluth-Superior MSA (down 3.8 percent), Minneapolis-St. Paul MSA (down 3 percent), Rochester MSA (down 0.6 percent) and St. Cloud MSA (down 3.6 percent).

Additional information on the state’s 47 WorkForce Centers and the November employment figures is available at www.PositivelyMinnesota.com .

Notes:
•  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.