Minnesota Unemployment Increases to 3.4% in July

ST PAUL – Minnesota lost 1,300 seasonally adjusted jobs in July and the state’s unemployment rate edged up one tenth to 3.4%, according to data released today by the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED). The U.S. Unemployment rate remained at 3.7%.

July’s seasonally adjusted loss represents the first decline after four continuous months of gains that added 7,000 jobs. Minnesota’s labor force participation rate held at 70%.

“Even with this slight increase, Minnesota’s unemployment rate remains low and the labor force participation rate remains high,” said DEED Commissioner Steve Grove. “This continues to suggest that the state’s labor force is at or near capacity – and businesses will continue to find it challenging to hire and retain workers.”

Over the month, four major industry sectors gained jobs. Construction gained the most (up 1,600) followed by education and healthcare (up 1,000). Government (up 400) and trade, transportation and utilities (up 200) were the other two sectors experiencing gains.

Sectors experiencing loss were leisure and hospitality (down 3,000), other services (down 1,200), information (down 200) and professional and business services (down 100).

All five Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSA) experienced growth over the year in July. St Cloud MSA had the highest at 1.5%, followed closely by Rochester MSA at 1.4%, Mankato MSA gained 1.0%, Minneapolis-St. Paul MSA grew 0.1% and Duluth MSA gained 0.7%.

Seasonally Adjusted Not Seasonally Adjusted

Unemployment Rate July 2019 June 2019 July 2019 July 2018

Minnesota

3.4 3.3 3.3 2.7

U.S.

3.7 3.7 4.0 4.1

Employment July 2019 June 2019 July ’18 ’19 level of Change July ’18 ’19 % level of Change

Minnesota

2,962,400 2,963,700 15,525 0.5

U.S.

151,431,000 151,267,000 2,286,000 1.5

MN OTY Job Change MN OTY Growth Rate US OTY Growth Rate

Total nonfarm 15,525 0.5 1.5

Total Private 15,038 0.6 1.7

Logging and Mining 183 2.6 1.5

Construction 8,622 6.3 3.5

Manufacturing -255 -0.1 1.0

Trade, Transport. and Utilities -4,105 -0.8 0.1

Information -2,735 -5.5 1.8

Financial Activities 664 0.4 1.1

Prof. and Business Services -551 -0.1 2.2

Ed. and Health Services 3,772 0.7 2.7

Leisure and Hospitality 11,302 3.9 2.1

Other Services -1,859 -1.6 1.4

Government 487 0.1 0.8

Metropolitan Statistical Area OTY Employment Change (#, NSA) OTY Employment Change (%, NSA)

Minneapolis-St. Paul MN-WI MSA 2,879 0.1

Duluth-Superior MN-WI MSA 1,008 0.7

Rochester MSA 1,686 1.4

St. Cloud MSA 1,647 1.5

Mankato MSA 541 1.0

A video analysis of July’s employment report can be viewed on the DEED YouTube Channel. 

An interview with Labor Market Information Director Steve Hine is available for press at the following links:

Audio 

Video

Graphics

DEED is the states principal economic development agency, promoting business recruitment, expansion and retention, workforce development, international trade and community development. For more details about the agency and its services visit the DEED website or follow DEED on Twitter.