Minnesota's Unemployment Rate Falls to 7.7% in July

St. Paul – Minnesota’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate fell to 7.7% in July down from 8.6% in June, according to numbers released today by the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED). Minnesota added 32,500 payroll jobs in July on a seasonally adjusted basis, up 1.2% over the month. The U.S. added 1.8 million jobs in July, up 1.3%. The U.S. unemployment rate is at 10.2% for July, down from 11.1% in June.

“We’re moving in the right direction, but job growth is slowing, a sign that this recovery will likely take some time,” said DEED Commissioner Steve Grove. “It’s important for Minnesotans to know that many employers are hiring now, and that resources are available to help people prepare for in-demand jobs through CareerForce.”

Some groups of Minnesotans have been more affected by unemployment than others during the pandemic. Based on six month moving averages (February to July 2020 data), the unemployment rate for Black Minnesotans is 15.3% in July, up 9 percentage points from 6.3% one year ago, in July 2019. For Hispanic Minnesotans, unemployment was 8.6% in July, up from 4.3% in July 2019. White Minnesotans have an unemployment rate of 6.3% in July, up from 3.1% one year ago.

Seasonally adjusted job gains in July were led by Leisure and Hospitality, up 17,200 (9.8%), with Accommodation and Food Service gaining 12,300 of the jobs (up 8.1%) and Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation gaining 4,900 jobs (up 20.4%), followed by Government with a gain of 6,200 (up 1.6%) mostly in Local Government and Education and Health Service, with a gain of 4,400 (up 0.9%), with Health Care and Social Assistance gaining 3,700 of those jobs (up 0.8%).

Four supersectors lost jobs in July: Professional and Business Services lost 900 jobs, down 0.2%, Information also lost 900 jobs, down 2.2%, Construction lost 400 jobs, down 0.3% and Mining and Logging lost 100 jobs, down 1.9%.

Over the year in July, Minnesota shed 256,062 payroll jobs, down 8.5%. The private sector shed 220,409 of those jobs, also down 8.5%. All sectors continued to show over-the-year job losses.

Two supersectors showed strength in Minnesota compared to the nation in July. Trade, Transportation and Utilities was down 3% in Minnesota compared to 5.7% nationwide over the year. Once again, strength in this supersector was in retail trade with Minnesota down 0.6% compared to 5.5% nationwide, over the year. Professional and Business Services was down 4.7% in Minnesota compared to 6.7% nationwide, over the year. Minnesota’s strength in this supersector was in Administrative and Support and Waste Services, down 3.1% in Minnesota compared to 11.2% nationwide. Of special note is employment services (temp help), which was down 10% in Minnesota compared to 17.2% nationwide, over the year.

In Minnesota, the number of people unemployed dropped by 31,146 to 236,832 in July, while the number employed rose 9,579 to 2,855,710. The employment to population ration increased slightly over the month to 64% in July, compared to 55.1% nationally.

Employment fell in July over the year in all Minnesota Metropolitan Statistical Areas.

Minnesota and U.S. Employment and Unemployment – July 2020

Seasonally Adjusted Not Seasonally Adjusted

Unemployment Rate July 2020 June 2020 July 2020 July 2019

Minnesota 7.7% 8.6% 7.4% 3.2%

U.S. 10.2% 11.1% 10.5% 4.0%

Employment July 2020 June 2020 July '19-July '20 Level Change July '19- July '20 % Change

Minnesota 32,500 74,700 -256,062 -8.5%

U.S. 1,763,000 4,817,000 -11,599,000 -7.7%

Minnesota and U.S. Over the Year (OTY) Employment Change, Not Seasonally Adjusted: July 2019 - July 2020

Supersector OTY

Job Change OTY

Growth Rate (%) US OTY Growth Rate

Total -256,062 -8.5 -7.7

Private -220,409 -8.5 -8.2

Logging & Mining -1,429 -20.6 -15.3

Construction -8,336 -5.9 -4.3

Manufacturing -20,070 -6.1 -5.7

Trade, Transport. & Utilities -15,709 -3.0 -5.7

Information -7,398 -15.6 -10.6

Financial Activities -7,616 -3.9 -1.6

Prof. & Business Services -18,426 -4.7 -6.7

Ed. & Health Services -39,766 -7.3 -5.1

Leisure & Hospitality -86,132 -29.2 -24.2

Other Services -15,527 -13.3 -10.0

Government -35,653 -8.8 -4.5

Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) Over the Year (OTY) Employment Change, Not Seasonally Adjusted: July 2019 – July 2020

Metropolitan Statistical Area OTY Employment Change OTY Growth Rate (%)

Minneapolis-St. Paul MN-WI MSA -178,932 -8.7

Duluth-Superior MN-WI MSA -12,642 -9.3

Rochester MSA -10,046 -8.0

St. Cloud MSA -3,433 -3.1

Mankato MSA -781 -1.4

Visit the DEED website to see DEED’s alternative measures of unemployment. You can also find the monthly jobs numbers and unemployment data on DEED’s website. You can see a list of the top 30 jobs in demand now in Minnesota on CareerForceMN.com.

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