Minnesota's jobless rate leaps to 8.1%, and that's probably way low

May 22, 20200

Glen Stubbe – Star Tribune count

Minnesota Governor Tim Walz announced new guidelines this week for restaurants, bars, salons and barber shops. On the right is Economic Development Commissioner Steve Grove.

Minnesota's jobless rate last month vaulted to its highest level since 1983 - 8.1% - but officials said the figure lowballed the damage to the state workforce.

A different indicator, the number of people filing unemployment claims, shows more than 20% of the state's workers have been hurt. And in preparing the monthly employment snapshot released Thursday, economists at the Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) tried to understand why the unemployment rate was so far from that figure.

https://www.startribune.com/minnesota-s-jobless-rate-climbed-to-8-1-in-april-highest-since-1983/570660482/