Minnesota continues its economic expansion. Yesterday, the MN Department of Employment and Economic Development announced another stellar month of job growth in October. The state’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate has dipped below 4 percent for the first time since the 2008 recession.
Highlights from the press release:
ST. PAUL – Minnesota employers added 9,500 jobs in October, according to seasonally adjusted figures released today by the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED).
The October gains, combined with September figures that were revised upward by 2,800 jobs, brought job growth over the past year to 49,679 in Minnesota. The state has added 28,300 jobs over the past three months.
The unemployment rate fell 0.2 percent in October to a seasonally adjusted 3.9 percent, the state’s lowest unemployment rate since June 2006. The U.S. unemployment rate in October was 5.8 percent.
“The state’s pace of job growth has been impressive in the last three months,” said DEED Commissioner Katie Clark Sieben. “These new jobs combined with falling unemployment claims have contributed to Minnesota’s recent recognition as one of the best states in the country for business growth.”
It appears that job growth in the Duluth region was flat. The region’s unemployment is still slightly higher than the state average due to higher unemployment on the Iron Range and in other rural parts of the Arrowhead.
The Range may have higher unemployment, but I’ve looked at some on-line job openings and there are quite a few jobs open for people with certain types of education. I’ve been amazed at the number of job openings in the little papers that I read. At the depth of the recession, the newspapers didn’t even have job openings for cleaning people.