With record-low unemployment, Minnesota still struggles with racial disparities in the job market
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A new jobs report highlights record low unemployment for Minnesota and a need to address disparities within communities of color.
Thursday, Minnesota’s Department of Employment & Economic Development (DEED) shared that the state’s unemployment rate ticked down two-tenths of a point to 2% — the lowest rate since it’s been tracked starting in 1976.
DEED reports construction, manufacturing, professional & business services, and education & health services all posted solid gains — while others, like retail and government jobs, were down.
According to DEED, nationally, the unemployment rate stayed the same at 3.6% and the labor force participation rate ticked up a tenth of a point to 62.3%.
Minnesota has now gained jobs for eight months in a row. Minnesota gained 6,600 jobs in May, up 0.2% in the last month on a seasonally adjusted basis following the addition of 11,700 jobs (revised down from 11,900) in April. The private sector gained 7,500 jobs, up 0.3%, up from 11,000 in April (revised up from 10,600).
A hiring sign is displayed at a gas station as a customer walks past in Buffalo Grove, Ill., Thursday, June 9, 2022. Fewer Americans applied for unemployment benefits last week as the U.S. job market remains strong in the face of rising inflation and interest rates. Applications for jobless aid fell by 3,000 to 329,000 for the week ending June 11, the Labor Department reported Thursday, June 16. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
The U.S. gained 390,000 jobs, up 0.3% from April to May, with the private sector adding 333,000 jobs, also up 0.3% on a seasonally adjusted basis.
One industry that has struggled perhaps most over the past two-and-a-half years was hospitality — DEED’s numbers show a solid year with the industry adding 25,564 jobs.
“We’re seeing some positive signs now,” Ben Wogsland, executive vice president of Hospitality Minnesota, said, adding. “I know it feels good for these operators.”
Even so, Wogsland says there are many more jobs to fill.
“They’re still tight,” Wogsland said about hospitality employers.
“If you talk to individual operators, would they like to see those jobs numbers even higher and coming back quicker? Absolutely. We’re structurally still down 25,000 workers from pre-pandemic levels at this time of the year. But, the positive news is that it’s moving in the right direction.”
Not all trends are moving in the right direction — DEED reports Black Minnesotan unemployment increased from April-to-May, from 6.7% to 6.9%.
“We’ve got to remain laser focused on lifting up communities of color,” Grove said.
“[They’re] the key to our economic success and growth in the future. That’s where our population is growing. That’s where the productivity gains are going to come and we ignore it at our own economic peril,” Grove added about focusing on helping communities of color with employment.
DEED is working to bring all unemployment number with its “Summer of Jobs”.