There was some positive news on the jobs front according to the latest numbers released Thursday by the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development.
Minnesota added 4,200 jobs in September. However, Commissioner Steve Grove says filling them with workers is another story.
“The big challenge in Minnesota remains our workforce shortage,” says Grove. “We remain one of the tightest labor markets in the entire country. We have 4.1 job openings for every unemployed worker in our state. And there are about 226,000 job openings in Minnesota.”
Grove says their focus right now is on tackling what he calls 'market gaps' between those who are able to work and businesses that are hiring.
DEED also announcing the state unemployment rate is at 2%, still a historically low figure and below the national rate of 3.5%.
Commissioner Steve Grove says there's one particularly notable area of growth in Minnesota.
“For the first time since March of 2020, nursing and residential care facilities gained jobs,” Grove explains. “The first time they’ve ever gained jobs since the pandemic hit. They’re up 157 jobs, about 0.2% growth in the month of September, a signal that perhaps a lot of the wage growth we’ve seen in that nursing and residential care industry has started to make a difference.
The trend toward job growth has remained strong coming out of the pandemic. Minnesota employment has grown 2.4% since January 2022 while the U.S. has grown 2.2%. For 12 straight months, Minnesota has gained jobs.
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