Minnesota gains 2,500 jobs in November, unemployment rises to 3.5%

Minnesota added 2,500 jobs and its unemployment rate increased one-tenth of a percentage point to 3.5%, the state Department of Employment and Economic Development said in a release Thursday. Minnesota has added jobs in nine of the last 12 months.

The rise in unemployment even though jobs were added is because the state’s labor force grew by more than 4,600 workers in November. The labor-force participation rate rose one-tenth of a percentage point to 67.8% over the month. This measures the percentage of the working-age population that is either working or actively seeking work, and is used to calculate the headline unemployment rate.

“November was another strong month for Minnesota’s jobs market. Employers added staff, and more Minnesotans started looking for work,” said DEED Commissioner Matt Varilek in the release. “As we look to the new year, DEED will work with our private sector, nonprofit and government partners to build on this positive labor market momentum.”

Over the year, Minnesota gained 33,458 payroll jobs, up 1.1%. The private sector gained 16,169 jobs, up 0.6%.

Four supersectors in Minnesota gained jobs on a seasonally adjusted basis, led by strong gains in Construction (up 2,800 jobs, or 2.1%); Education and Health Services (up 4,900 jobs), Government (800 jobs) and Other Services (400 jobs) also added employees. Six supersectors lost jobs over the month, led by Professional & Business Services (down 1,900 jobs or 0.5%).

Over the year, average hourly private sector earnings increased 5.4%, double the rate of inflation. Nationally, private sector wages grew 4.1% over the year.

“Minnesota’s labor market is balancing out,” said DEED Labor Market Information Director Angelina Nguyen in the release. “More Minnesotans are working, looking for work or simply want to work, and there are good jobs available for them in industries across our economy.”

Among alternative measures of unemployment, the broadest, called the U-6, came in at 6.3% in November. This includes people who have dropped out of the labor force and are not seeking work, those underemployed or marginally employed.