Minnesota unemployment rate up, jobs shed in July
Updated: 1 p.m. | Posted: 11 a.m.
Minnesota's unemployment rate is up and its job count is down, according to new data for July.
The Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development reported Thursday that the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was at 4 percent. It's the first highest since May 2014 and a tick above the 3.9 percent for June. However, the bump from June to July is not statistically significant given the margin of error associated with the underlying survey.
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Minnesota's rate remains well below the 5.3 percent rate nationally.
State labor market economist Steve Hine says Minnesota is doing well on the employment front.
"We're continuing to recover," he said."We nearly have as many job openings out there as we have job-seekers trying to fill them."
State figures show 3,900 jobs were lost last month, the most coming in leisure and hospitality, construction and trade, transportation and utilities sectors. Some of those losses were offset by gains in government, professional and business services and financial activities.
Over the past year, there have been almost 44,000 jobs added to the Minnesota workforce.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.