Minnesota's 14 month run of continued job growth came to an end in December according to data released by the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development on Thursday.
DEED reported that 6,100 government jobs were lost last month, while the private sector added 900 jobs.
"This is really unique, it's not unheard of, to lose so many jobs in government in one month but it did definitely catch our eye because the private sector gained jobs," said DEED Commissioner Steve Grove.
Grove said most, if not all, of the government job losses in December were in local government.
"We don't know if it was because end of the year grants kind of shifted funding models, or if there was a seasonal adjustment issue, but that's where the losses were."
Ultimately, the losses led to a 0.2% decrease in job growth for the month of December, compared to the United States which was up 0.1% adding 223,000 jobs.
Unemployment meanwhile ticked up 0.2% but remained historically low at 2.5%.
Grove added that workforce shortages remain a hot topic among employers statewide and across the country. Minnesota added 3,300 people to labor force in December.
Despite labor force participation remaining steady at 67.9% it still lacks behind pre-pandemic levels.
The national labor force participation rate is 62.3%.
"This remains the central thing that is holding our economy back," Grove said. "That challenge of finding enough workers for those jobs. We're still at about one person for every three or four jobs out there. That's what's limiting our productivity at a time when businesses still see a lot of growth but don't have enough workers to cover the roles and accelerate that growth."
