Minnesota employers added 5,900 jobs in August, and the state unemployment rate increased one-tenth of a percentage point to 3.6%, according to data from the Department of Employment and Economic Development released Thursday.
Minnesota’s growth equated to a 0.2% increase in jobs in August, compared to effectively flat employment for the United States as a whole.
Minnesota also added nearly 1,100 workers to its labor force, which accounts for the rise in the unemployment rate despite the addition of more jobs. The state’s labor force participation rate was 68.1% compared with 62.3% nationally. This measures the percentage of people either working or actively seeking work, and is used to calculate the headline unemployment rate. As more people enter the work force, the unemployment rate rises eve as jobs are added.
The state’s unemployment rate in August compares with 4.3% nationally.
Over the year, Minnesota gained 39,255 jobs, up 1.3%, DEED said in its news release. The private sector gained 37,692 jobs, up 1.4%. Both figures outpaced national statistics: U.S. employment grew 0.8% over the year with the private sector up 0.9%.
“Minnesota’s labor market had a strong month in August, adding thousands of jobs and people looking for work,” said DEED Commissioner Matt Varilek in the release. “We continue to monitor our economy for signs that federal disruptions are affecting Minnesota employers. But in August, we outpaced national trends.”
August represented a turnaround from July, for which the state now reports a net loss of 500 jobs compared with June. Those data were revised upward by 3,900 jobs from the initially reported net loss of 4,400 jobs. Varilek at the time attributed that to “mass federal layoffs and funding interruptions, erratic tariffs and shrinking immigration.”
Government employers shed 2,400 jobs, or 0.5%, in August, mostly at the local level.
Construction gained 1,900 jobs, or 1.3%, in August, the third consecutive month of growth, and Education and Health Services rose 4,300 jobs, or 0.7%. Manufacturing lost 900 jobs in August, down 0.3%.
On Sept. 9, the national Bureau of Labor Statistics announced preliminary revisions for national-level job estimates over the past year through March 2025. Minnesota’s annual data will be updated after national revisions are finalized in February.
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