Job vacancies may have dropped from the record high seen in 2021, but that doesn’t mean overall demand for workers has slowed, according to a recent report by the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED).

Minnesota employers had nearly 185,000 vacancies during the second quarter of 2022, down 10.3% from the second quarter of 2021, according to job vacancy survey results released by DEED on Friday, April 14. At the same time, the number of unemployed Minnesotans declined. While this has increased worker competition, overall demand for workers remained high, especially in industries like health care, retail, food service, and manufacturing.

In a statement about the report,  DEED Interim Commissioner Kevin McKinnon said the survey results show a continued strong demand for workers across the state. In fact, he said the demand is equivalent to more than two jobs per unemployed Minnesotan. “The tight labor market presents opportunities for people looking for work in Minnesota. It also presents challenges for employers who need workers to continue operations and grow their business,” McKinnon said. 

The 184,588 vacancies translate to a job vacancy rate of 6.9%, which means there are 6.9 job openings for every 100 filled in the state. This rate is down from 8% a year ago.

Survey results show the health care and social assistance industry had the most job vacancies with more than 45,000 openings, followed by retail trade with almost 28,500 vacancies, accommodation and food services with nearly 26,000 postings, and manufacturing with nearly 19,000 vacancies. Combined, these four industries accounted for two-thirds of the total openings in the state.

The job vacancy survey is conducted by collecting information from employers about job vacancies twice a year, which DEED uses to estimate hiring demand and job vacancy characteristics by industry, occupation, and firm size in Minnesota. The information is gathered through a survey of 6,225 firms in the state. There was an 80.1% response rate in the second quarter of 2022.

More information can be found at the Job Vacancy Survey page on DEED’s website.