Minnesota’s Unemployment Rate Was Static in January
Minnesota began 2023 with an unemployment rate of 2.9%, according to monthly jobs figures released by the state on Thursday morning.
That put January’s unemployment rate roughly on par with December’s rate. The state initially reported an unemployment rate of 2.5% in December, but, after revisions, that figure apparently increased to 2.9%.
In a Thursday press release, the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) noted that the agency releases revised jobs numbers for the past few years every March. “These annual benchmarking revisions always result in shifts for some months of data for the unemployment rate, the labor force participation rate, and the job count,” DEED officials said in the release.
Those revisions apparently affected DEED’s figures relating to the state’s record-low unemployment rates last year. The agency initially reported an all-time low of 1.8% in June of 2022. However, that figure was “revised up,” so that is no longer true. Now, April’s revised rate of 2.3% was the all-time record low for Minnesota. (The state initially reported an unemployment rate of 2.2% in April of 2022.)
Meanwhile, Minnesota’s unemployment rate continues to best the national average – which was true throughout 2022. In January, the national rate was 3.4%. The North Star State also gained a total of 14,100 jobs in January compared to the same month last year. That’s up about 0.5% on a year-over-year basis, according to DEED.
Kevin McKinnon, who began serving as DEED’s interim commissioner after Steve Grove’s departure, said the latest figures show that Minnesota still has a “tight labor market.”
