Minnesota’s unemployment rate dropped a tenth of a percentage point in February, according to the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED). The state’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate is 3.1%. The U.S. unemployment rate also slightly declined slightly to 3.5% from 3.6% in January.
Minnesota lost 4,900 jobs in the private sector on a seasonally adjusted basis in February. Year-to-year, however, Minnesota was up 2,315 jobs from Febraury 2019. This data is reflective of the job market prior to the widespread implications of the COVID-19 outbreak.
“It’s important to note that February employment numbers don’t reflect the significant impact on Minnesota employment we’ve seen…due to COVID-19,” said DEED Commissioner Steve Grove.
DEED economists anticipate that a more complete picture of the impacts COVID-19 will have on the state’s employment numbers will emerge in early May (using data from the month of April).
Construction saw a 3.0% employment growth since February 2019; the second highest growth among all other job sectors. Other industries that saw growth over the last year include Government (0.9%) and Leisure and Hospitality (1.2%).
In the Metropolitan Statistical Areas, employment growth rates varied: Minneapolis-St. Paul MSA (no change), Rochester MSA (up 0.2%), St. Cloud MSA (up 0.2%), Duluth-Superior MSA (down 0.9%), and Mankato MSA (up 2.1%).
