Minnesota gained 100 jobs in May according to figures released today by the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED). The state’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate remained steady at 3.3% in May and the U.S. unemployment rate was 3.6%.
April’s job gain was revised downward from 3,600 jobs to 200, and annual gains fell to 4,164 jobs or 0.1%.
Over the year, construction lead all other sectors adding 7,443 jobs.
“Steady unemployment suggests that the Minnesota workforce is operating near its capacity,” said DEED Commissioner Steve Grove. “The tight labor market continues to represent a major challenge to Minnesota’s job growth.”
Five major industry sectors gained jobs over the month in May. Professional and business services lead all sectors (up 1,800), followed by education and healthcare (up 700), construction (up 700), trade, transportation and utilities (up 600) and information (up 100). Manufacturing had the largest loss (down 1,200) followed by leisure and hospitality (down 1,000), other services (down 800), financial activities (down 500) and government (down 300). Mining and logging held steady over the month.
Three of the five major Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) experienced over-the-year growth in May. St. Cloud MSA had the largest growth (up 1.6%) followed by Rochester (up 1.1%) and Mankato (up 0.3%). Minneapolis-St. Paul MSA was down 0.2% and Duluth Superior MSA dropped 0.6%.
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 https://mn.gov/deed/ or follow DEED on Twitter.