ST. PAUL – Minnesota employers added 7,700 jobs in July, according to seasonally adjusted figures released today by the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED).
In addition, June’s employment figures were revised upward by 4,900 jobs to bring total gains that month to 9,300 jobs. Minnesota has added 66,701 jobs in the past year, an increase of 2.3%, compared with a national growth rate of 1.5% during that period.
The state’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate held steady in July at 3.7%. The U.S. unemployment rate was 4.3%.
“Minnesota is outperforming the rest of the country in a number of key economic measures, including the overall unemployment rate, labor force participation and employment-to-population ratio,” said DEED Commissioner Shawntera Hardy. “Nine of the state’s 11 industrial sectors are growing faster than the national average.”
Education and health services led all sectors last month with a record gain of 8,400 jobs. Other sectors gaining jobs were leisure and hospitality (up 2,800), government (up 1,600), manufacturing (up 500), other services (up 400) and information (up 200). Logging and mining held steady.
The following industries lost jobs in July: trade, transportation and services (down 2,600), professional and business services (down 1,500), financial activities (down 1,400) and construction (down 700).
Ten of the state’s industrial sectors have gained jobs over the past year, led by education and health services (up 27,521). Other over-the-year job gains were posted by leisure and hospitality (up 13,250), construction (up 7,528), government (up 5,682), professional and business services (up 3,388), trade, transportation and utilities (up 3,186), manufacturing (up 2,931), other services (up 2,922), logging and mining (up 793) and information (up 72).
Financial activities lost 572 jobs over the past year.
In the Metropolitan Statistical Areas, all regions gained jobs in the past 12 months: Minneapolis-St. Paul MSA (up 2.7%), Duluth-Superior MSA (up 2.4%), Rochester MSA (up 1.%), St. Cloud MSA (up 1.8%) and Mankato MSA (up 1.7%).
DEED has added a section to its website that examines the unemployment rate by demographics (race, age and gender) and looks at alternative measures of unemployment.
DEED is the state’s 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.