Minnesota surpasses 3 million jobs, highest on record, DEED reports

Minnesota’s job growth last month outpaced the national rate and reached a record level in the state, the latest state employment report shows.

The Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) released its monthly snapshot of the state’s job situation on Thursday, saying Minnesota gained 7,000 jobs from September to October. That pushed the number of jobs in the state to 3,001,300 last month, the highest on record and first time the seasonally adjusted jobs estimate has exceeded 3 million, DEED says.

Agency officials say October was also the third straight month the state has seen job growth.

Despite the continued growth in jobs, DEED says there are still a lot of job openings across the state, with around 200,000 postings as of August.

“There are many opportunities for job seekers right now – as there have been for quite some time in Minnesota,” DEED Deputy Commissioner Kevin McKinnon said. “In October, we saw more good news in job growth, while we saw a pause in labor force growth after nearly three quarters of more and more people looking for work and landing jobs. DEED continues to work hard to make sure Minnesotans know about all the great reasons to join the labor force right now.”

The report also shows that Minnesota’s unemployment rate increased by 0.1% to 3.2% in October, still below the national rate of 3.9%, and the state’s labor force remained mostly steady, dropping by less than 100 people, which still marks the first decline in eight months. Minnesota’s labor force participation rate stayed at 68.5%, well above the national rate of 62.7%.

Nationally, there was another jump in jobless claims last week, a signal that the labor market may be cooling.