Highs and lows of unemployment in Redwood County

Having a low unemployment rate is a good thing, because it means people are working. A working populous is healthy for the economy and is a signal business is doing well.

However, there comes a time when a low unemployment rate might get too low.

According to the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Devel-opment, the unemployment rate for December 2014 in Redwood County was 3 percent.

That number is lower than the state unemployment rate of 3.6 percent and the 5.6 rate for the nation.

So, how is having a low unemployment rate a concern for the county?

According to Anne John-son, director of the Redwood Area Chamber and Tourism office, it becomes an issue when there are no people to fill jobs that are available.

“In talking with local businesses there is a need for people to fill jobs,” said Johnson. “The need is across the board. Everything from health care to retail and manufacturing to service has job openings.”

That challenge, said Johnson, is in finding the people who are willing to come to Redwood Falls to fill those openings and to convince those who have left, including the next generation of workers, to come back.

Julie Rath of the Redwood Area Development Corpor-ation, echoed that concern on a countywide level.

She added one of the most significant concerns is the number of people available for work in the 20-40 age range. Those numbers are down, she said.

The challenge, she said, is long-term, as many area businesses are not only looking for people to fill entry-level jobs right now, but they are also looking to the not-so-distant future when many from the baby boomer generation opt to retire from work.

When that happens there are going to be a number of job openings, and filling those openings is likely going to present a real challenge for the region.

Rath said, however, there may be a bit of help coming form North Dakota, as a glut of oil globally has led to some layoffs in that area.

It is anticipated some of those who have been working in the oil fields of North Dakota are going to be looking for work.

“The challenge then becomes having them accept the fact that the jobs they are taking are going to be more like $40-50,000 not the $100,00 they had been getting,” said Rath.

Steve Hine, director of the office of labor market information for the DEED said while hitting the 3 percent threshold does seem to indicate the bottom of the pool the unemployment rate has dropped farther. In fact, he said there were regions in the state back in the 90s that hit a rate of 2.5 percent.