November proves strong month for Minnesota job market despite slight unemployment uptick

Minnesota added jobs and increased the size of its labor force in November and wages in the state continue to exceed the rate of inflation.

“We added 2,500 jobs in the month, and that amounts to nine out of 12 months in which we had net job growth,” said DEED Commissioner Matt Varilek during a press briefing on Thursday.

Four supersectors gained jobs on a seasonally adjusted basis led by strong gains in construction which is up 2.1 percent. Agency officials say those gains are mostly thanks to a warmer than usual November that allowed construction to last longer into the year.

Education and health services, government and other services are the other supersectors that saw gains. Professional and business services led the supersectors that lost jobs in November which is down a half percent.

The state’s unemployment rate, however, increased last month by one-tenth of a percentage point to 3.5 percent, which was still lower than the national average of 4.2 percent. Officials with the agency say that reflects that there are more jobs than there are available workers in the state.

Angelina Nguyễn is the Director of the Labor Market Information Office within DEED. She said there are more job openings than there are available workers.

“An unemployment rate has increased over the last year, but it is a good thing from an economics perspective,” Nguyễn said. “The number of people working increased and then the number of people unemployed, meaning they are now looking for work, increased by about 1,500 so we’re seeing more labor force participation.”