State Unemployment Rate Falls to 2.8 Percent

Unemployment rate at lowest point since May 1999

ST PAUL – Minnesota’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate fell to 2.8 percent in September, according to data released today by the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED).

That is the lowest state unemployment rate since May 1999 and only three tenths of a point above the all-time low of 2.5 percent in both January and February 1999. The U.S. unemployment rate was 3.7 percent in September 2018.

Minnesota’s labor market lost 1,400 jobs last month. Additionally, August’s job loss was revised downward from 200 jobs lost to 2,500 jobs lost.

Over the past year, the state has added 37,339 jobs, a 1.3 percent growth rate. U.S. jobs are up 1.9 percent in the past year.

“While job declines are disappointing, they are to some extent a consequence of earlier economic strength,” said DEED Commissioner Shawntera Hardy. “This summer we saw large job gains, particularly in leisure and hospitality. These industries tend to eliminate some of those jobs at the end of the busy summer travel season.”

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