In July, Another Historically Low Unemployment Rate for Minnesota
Minnesotans aren’t taking the summer off, apparently. In July, Minnesota’s unemployment rate remained historically low at 1.8 percent, according to the state’s latest jobs report released Thursday.
The state reported the exact same unemployment rate for the month of June. At the time, state officials said the figure was the lowest since record-keeping began in 1976. Minnesota has reported historically low unemployment figures for the months of April, May, and June.
Minnesota’s unemployment rate continues to outpace the national average, which came in at 3.5% in July.
Minnesota gained 19,100 jobs last month, and most were in the private sector, which added 14,600 jobs.
“Despite a very tight labor market, employers are hiring at a fast rate,” said Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) commissioner Steve Grove in a news release.
Notably, in July, the size of Minnesota’s labor market contracted for the first time this year. Last month, the state’s labor market declined by 4,000 people, which means that Minnesota’s labor force participation rate dropped by 0.1% to 68.4%. “In 2022, Minnesota’s labor force growth has been strong but slowing,” DEED officials said in the release.
On a year-over-year basis, the leisure and hospitality industry added the most jobs at 23,029 in July. That marked a 9% increase over the same month in 2021. The professional and business services sector wasn’t too far behind, adding 18,664 jobs year over year, representing a 4.9% increase.
Meanwhile, gaps persist in unemployment by race, according to state data. For white Minnesotans, the unemployment rate is 2.4%, based on a 12-month rolling average. That compares to 7.3% for Black Minnesotans and 3.2% for Hispanic Minnesotans. Those figures are a bit higher than the July figures because they’re based on several months of data, according to DEED.
