Community Corner

Hennepin County's Jobless Rate Drops Slightly In August

Government employees headed back to work and some private businesses were hiring.

Hennepin County's unemployment rate dropped slightly in August, as about 4,800 more residents found work.

The state's jobless rate also dropped in August and is now even with the county. Minnesota's rate decrease was the result of the end of the state government shutdown and a gain in private-industry jobs.

The state and county rates remain significantly lower than the nation's, though the U.S. rate also dropped last month. Hennepin County's labor force in August was 671,829.

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“Job growth in the private sector continues to be a bright spot of the Minnesota economy,” said DEED Commissioner Mark Phillips. “We have seen state manufacturers, construction companies and other private businesses add more than 42,000 jobs in the past four months.”

Initial claims for unemployment insurance benefits throughout Minnesota fell to 19,625 in August—the fewest in the state in three years, Phillips said.

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Rachel Vilsack, coordinator of special projects for the Labor Market Information Office of the DEED, termed Minnesota's job growth "fairly healthy" compared to national trends. Over the past four months, national job growth has slowed to 39,500, while Minnesota has averaged 8,525.

"There continues to be indications of growth in the demand for labor here," she said.

Vilsack cited several examples:

  • The average workweek for private sector employees increased 3/10 of an hour over the last few months.
  • Jobs in the temp help sector hit a level not seen (in an August) since 1999.
  • Layoffs, measured by unemployment insurance claims, are below 25,000 per month.
  • Job openings measured by the Conference Board still show Minnesota with the 10th best unemployed to openings ratio in the nation, and the Twin Cities has the third best ratio among large metro areas.

In the entire Twin Cities metro area, the sectors that gained the most jobs from July to August were government (4.6 percent); and mining, logging, and construction (2 percent). The sectors that lost the most jobs were information, such as publishing and telecommunications (-0.3 percent); leisure and hospitality (-0.3 percent); and private services, such as maintenance, laundry and religious (-0.5 percent).

Labor changes in different employment areas only are available by region.

 

          Unemployment rates*


July Aug County 6.9 6.7 State 7.4 6.7 Nation 9.3 9.1

          *All rates are not seasonally adjusted.


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