Report: Minnesota's unemployment rate jumps 5.2% from March to April
Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development[KSTP]
Minnesota's unemployment rate jumped to 8.1% in April on a seasonally-adjusted basis, compared with 2.9% in March, according to a new report released Thursday.
April's rate is the highest seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate recorded in Minnesota since 1983 when it hit 8.9%, according to the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED).
According to DEED, the number of those employed in Minnesota fell by 192,220 to 2,813,281 in April.
Meanwhile, Minnesota lost 359,800 payroll jobs in April—on a seasonally-adjusted basis—which is down 12.2% from March, DEED reports. Of those jobs, 334,700 were private sector jobs and 25,100 were state government jobs.
In the United States, roughly 38.6 million people have now filed for jobless aid, the Labor Department stated Thursday. In April, U.S. employers shed 20 million jobs, reportedly eliminating a decade's worth of job growth in a single month.
Nearly 39 million have sought US jobless aid since virus hit
According to DEED, Minnesota fared slightly better in April than the U.S. in terms of job losses. View the comparison among various sectors here.
"While the COVID-19 pandemic has challenged our state in many ways, we continue to work closely with our state agency partners and health, business and labor leaders to reopen Minnesota businesses, safely return more people to work, and stem the tide of COVID-19 on our economy," DEED Commissioner Steve Grove said in a statement.
Wednesday, state leaders announced they will implement a phased reopening of bars, restaurants and personal care services, under the new "Stay Safe MN" plan.
Employment and economic development leaders hosted a webinar Thursday to answer questions about that new phased plan. Follow that conversation via the player below.