Minnesota Gains 8,900 Jobs in December

Statewide unemployment rate at 3.1 percent, lowest level in more than 17 years

Minnesota employers added 8,900 jobs in December, with 8,700 of them coming from the private sector, according to seasonally adjusted figures released today by the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED). 

The state gained 44,200 jobs during the calendar year, a growth rate of 1.5 percent. The U.S. rate of job growth last year also was 1.5 percent. 

Minnesota’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in December was 3.1 percent, down slightly from the revised rate of 3.2 percent in November and the lowest level since July 2000. 

Additionally, the 12-month average unemployment rate for Minnesota’s black population fell to 7.5 percent, its lowest rate on record since DEED began tracking that data in late 2001. DEED recently added a section to its website that examines the unemployment rate by demographics (race, age and gender) and looks at alternative measures of unemployment. 

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