An economic recovery is hard to find in Minnesota. In September, the state's employers cut a net 7,400 jobs.
Following four months of strong private-sector job growth, the employment report out Thursday was a setback, showing the state's private employers cut 14,400 jobs while government added jobs.
"The rate of job growth continues to be too slow both at the state and national levels to really create a robust self-sustaining recovery," said Steve Hine, director of the state's labor market office.
The month's weakness reduced year-over-year job gains from 44,600 in August to 27,700 in September, a much slower pace than what is needed to reverse the effects of the recession and put people back to work. The downshifting places Minnesota behind the nation in terms of the pace of job growth.
The state's unemployment rate during the month dropped to 6.9 percent from 7.2 percent, compared with the national rate in September of 9.1 percent. Generally, a drop in the unemployment rate would be seen as good news. But the number of unemployed and the unemployment rate can diverge in any given month for a number of reasons because they're based on different surveys.
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The state still is struggling to gain back the jobs lost during the recession. The latest report from the state Department of Employment and Economic Development didn't show movement in that direction.
September marks two years since the state hit a recessionary trough in terms of employment.
Since then, the state has gained 53,600 jobs. That's just one-third of the 158,000 jobs lost between the peak in February 2008 and the bottom in September 2009.
That pace is much too slow to put people like Bruce Thayer back to work. Thayer, 56, of St. Paul, has been looking for a job in information technology since 2006 when he was laid off after working 11 years as an employee for a contract company.
"It's pretty staggering," he said about the labor market and his inability to land a job despite years of computer work, including project leadership at some of the Twin Cities' largest companies.
While he's now a volunteer at the computer lab at the Goodwill/Easter Seals office in St. Paul, he's also taking on unpaid jobs he found after completing a certification program in health information technology at Normandale Community College.
Uncertainty is gripping businesses and blocking robust hiring around the state.
Mankato-based V-Tek supplies the electronics industry with equipment to package circuit board components. When demand was strong in the summer, workers were putting in 60-hour workweeks. Now, with a bit of a sales dropoff, hours are back to 40 a week. The company has 70 workers at a factory in Mankato and 100 to 200 more at three factories in Mexico.
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"If I was confident of the future, there are two pretty good positions I'd hire in leadership and management," said President Larry Haberman. "I'm going to defer. There are probably some upgrades in equipment I would make, if I felt more confident. Both of those are deferments for somewhere down the road. Until the future looks more consistent and promising, I'd rather have the money in the bank than make the expenditures."
V-Tek is part of the state's manufacturing sector, which alone lost 3,700 jobs in September. Jobs also were lost in construction, leisure and hospitality, health services, professional and business services and retail.
Government gained 7,000 jobs due to a bigger-than- usual increase in hiring at public schools during the month. It didn't come from higher staffing levels, but hiring typically is spread out more between September and October.
Tom Stinson, the state's chief economist, said that as far as the employment numbers go, it's better to look longer term, particularly because September is a volatile month. Schools are bringing on employees. Employers at resorts, golf courses, and bars are dismissing seasonal workers. "You have to look at it on a longer basis than just one month."
Adjusting for all the gyrations that occur right around the summer, the numbers don't look too bad, he said. "This isn't to say we don't need to add a lot more jobs. But today's numbers don't appear to be a sign that the wheels have come off Minnesota's job machine."
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
