Minnesota's jobless rate tops national rate in May

(AP) - Minnesota's unemployment rate in May jumped above the national jobless rate for the first time on record going back 31 years.

The Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development says Minnesota's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate last month was 4.6 percent, one-tenth of one percent over the national rate of 4.5 percent. That compared with a 3.9 percent jobless rate in Minnesota in May of last year.

Minnesota's construction industry led in job losses, down 1,700 in May from a month earlier. The state says housing starts were down 40 percent year to year and the trend is expected to continue for some time.

Since January, the state says the number of unemployed Minnesotans has risen to the highest level in three years.

(Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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