Minnesota’s labor force growth continues to accelerate, with more than 9,000 people entering the labor market in June, the fourth month in a row with positive growth and the largest monthly gain in three years.
With 9,017 new people in the job market, Minnesota’s labor force participation rate increased two-tenths of a percentage point to 68.4%, compared to 62.6% nationally. Minnesota’s unemployment rate remained steady at 2.9% in June. Nationally, the unemployment rate ticked down a tenth of a percent to 3.6%.
Minnesota lost 4,300 jobs in the last month on a seasonally adjusted basis and the state’s private sector lost 6,500 jobs. Looking at job growth over the year, both Minnesota and the U.S. as a whole, are up 2.4%.