Monthly Unemployment Rate

Minnesota's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for July rose a half of a percentage point to 5.8 percent.  This was driven by an increase of 16,800 in the number of unemployed since June.  

The national unemployment rate rose two-tenths of a percentage point to 5.7 percent in July. 

Calendar of scheduled releases is here.

Nonfarm Jobs

Minnesota's over the year job change slipped into negative territory in July as the state's employment level was 900 jobs below July 2007. This is the first time since March 2004 that the yearly job change has been negative.  Six of 11 industry sectors had over the year job losses: Natural Resources & Mining, Construction, Manufacturing, Information, Professional & Business Services and Other Services.  Five sectors in Minnesota are performing better than the nation over-the-year: Construction; Manufacturing; Trade, Transportation & Utilities; Information and Financial Activities.

Nationally, annual job losses mounted further during the month, and now stand at 174,000 compared to the previous July.

Calendar of scheduled releases is here.

Industrial Sector Highlights

Minnesota's nonfarm economy lost 8,600 jobs in July, down 0.3 percent over the month on a seasonally adjusted basis.  Moreover, June's gains were adjusted downward by 2,100 jobs.  Six of 11 major industry sectors lost jobs during the month.  

The largest monthly declines occurred in Government, Construction and Manufacturing.  In Government, both state and local government education showed losses.  Construction fell by 3,400 jobs with losses continuing to mount in residential construction.  Manufacturing was weak across most areas, with wood products and printing among the weakest areas.  On the other hand, medical devices industries continue to buck the overall trend with continued over the year growth.

In other industries with job losses in July, Leisure & Hospitality continues to struggle, this month with losses in fast food.  Professional & Business Services continues to be dragged down by the temp help sector, which turned negative a year ago and continues to decline.

Education & Health Services added the most jobs in July, up 2,500 with strength in educational services and social assistance.  Trade, Transportation & Utilities also added jobs, primarily in retail trade but also in wholesale trade.

Financial Services continues to be a relatively bright spot in Minnesota's economy.  In Minnesota, employment in this industry is up 0.7 percent over the year while it is down 1.4 percent nationwide.     

Calendar of scheduled releases is here.

Unemployment Insurance (UI) Claims

During July, Minnesota's statewide initial claims were up by 2,605 or 13.6 percent over one year ago, at 21,763.  The largest increases over the year were in the Retail Trade and Administrative & Waste Services industries.

On a seasonally adjusted basis, claims dropped slightly to 25,362 from 25,527.

Calendar of scheduled releases is here.

 
Source: Minnesota Job Vacancy Survey (DEED).
For more details, go here.

Job Vacancies

Job vacancies fell 9.2 percent from one year ago, to 50,600, during fourth quarter 2007.  Over the year declines were largest in sales and related, office and administrative support and food preparation and serving occupations.  The largest increase in job vacancies was in transportation and material moving, and installation, maintenance and repair, and community and social service occupations.

The strongest demand for workers based on the hiring demand index and the number of vacancies was found in computer and mathematical, healthcare practitioners and technical, healthcare support, and architecture and engineering occupations.

About 30,400 open positions, or 60 percent, were located in the Twin Cities seven-county metro area. The remaining 20,200 job vacancies were in Greater Minnesota.

Overall, we estimate that there were 2.5 unemployed workers for each job vacancy statewide.  One year ago, there were approximately 2.0 unemployed people for each vacancy statewide.

Next Scheduled Update: August 2008

Labor Market Index

The Minnesota Labor Market Index rebounded in May regaining some of the ground lost during the previous two months. May’s 0.2 percent jump was fueled by positive development across all three components of the index. Seasonally adjusted monthly wage and salary employment expanded, adjusted average weekly manufacturing hours inched up, and adjusted initial claims for unemployment dipped slightly. The U.S. index recorded its eighth consecutive monthly decline reflecting the tepid economic growth of the national economy over the first half of 2008. Minnesota’s index is down only 0.4 percent from a year ago while the U.S. index is off 2.6 percent. Minnesota index bested the U.S. index by 0.9 percentage points in May. Minnesota’s index hasn’t topped the national index by as much as 0.9 points since December 2005.

Source: Minnesota Employment Review, DEED.