Minnesota’s job recovery unexpectedly stalled in June with the state losing 600 jobs after seeing sizeable gains every other month of this year, according to data released this morning by the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED).
That trajectory is at odds with the U.S. as a whole, which added a higher-than-expected 850,000 job in June, an increase from prior months.
In April and May, Minnesota added 13,400 and 9,000 jobs, respectively, numbers which were both revised in the latest release.
June is the first month the state has recorded an overall loss in jobs since December 2020 when stricter state-enforced limits on businesses were still in place to battle coronavirus.
“We know that our recovery from the pandemic will take time, both nationally and at the state level,” DEED Commissioner Steve Grove said in a statement.
In a news release, DEED added that job growth has been uneven month to month coming out of the pandemic recession.
The state’s unemployment rate held steady at 4% in June. The U.S. unemployment rose one-tenth of a percent to 5.9% last month.
Job losses in the state last month were steepest in education and health services which was down 2,500 jobs. That was followed by financial services, which lost 2,200 jobs, construction, which declined by 2,100 jobs, and leisure and hospitality, which decreased by 500 jobs.
Those losses were partially offset by 2,700 jobs added in trade, transportation and utilities, 2,500 jobs added in government, and 1,220 jobs added in professional and business services.
The state has now regained about 59% of the 416,300 jobs it lost in February through April 2020.