Minnesota gains 11,500 jobs in March, unemployment down to 2.5%

Minnesota gained 11,500 jobs in March, the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development said Thursday, bringing the state’s unemployment rate to 2.5% from 2.7% in February. This compares with a U.S. unemployment rate of 3.6% reported for March.

The seasonally adjusted job gains follow a revised gain of 13,000 jobs in February, up 5,200 from the initial report. The private sector gained 11,000 jobs in March, DEED reported. This is the sixth straight month that Minnesota has seen job growth.

Minnesota’s labor force participation rate rose to 68.1% from 67.9%. This refers to the percentage of the population that is working or actively looking for work, and is used to calculate the unemployment rate. The decline from February was due to people moving from unemployment to employment, DEED said. Nationally, the labor force participation rate ticked up 0.1 percentage point to 62.4%.

“It’s good news for Minnesota that more people are returning to the labor force as job growth continues to surge,” said DEED Commissioner Steve Grove in a news release. “However, many Minnesotans who want to work are not connecting with stable employment. DEED is working to build bridges between employers and communities that are too often overlooked — workers of color, workers with disabilities, and new immigrants — to empower the growth of the Minnesota economy for everyone.”

As the COVID pandemic took hold, from February through April 2020, Minnesota lost 417,600 jobs and has since regained 315,900 jobs, or 76% of the jobs lost on a seasonally adjusted basis. The private sector has regained 310,900 jobs, or 80% of the jobs lost.

Gains by sector in March were in Mining and Logging (up 100 jobs), Construction (up 100), Manufacturing (up 2,300), Trade, Transportation, and Utilities (up 2,000), Information (up 500), Financial Activities (up 1,800), Professional and Business Services (up 700), Educational and Health Services (up 900), Leisure and Hospitality (up 1,100), and Government (up 100); other Services lost 200 jobs, a 0.2% drop.