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Minnesota added 12,300 jobs last month, which was slightly lower than April’s revised job gains, according to numbers released today by the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED).
But it was still the fifth straight month of job gains so far this year. The state recovered 13,400 jobs in April, 20,400 jobs in March, 12,400 jobs in February, and 51,600 jobs in January.
Jobs gains last month was led by leisure and hospitality, which added 6,000 jobs. That was followed by professional and business services with 3,500 jobs, other services with 2,200 jobs, construction with 1,200 jobs and manufacturing with 800 jobs.
That was offset by a loss of 2,500 jobs in government, 2,300 jobs in trade, transportation and utilities, and 200 jobs in information.
The state has now recovered about 60% of the jobs it lost during the first months of the pandemic.
“Minnesota is moving in the right direction with steady job growth,” DEED Commissioner Steve Grove said in a statement. “At DEED, we are continuing to proactively work with Minnesotans receiving unemployment benefits, not only to remind them of their work search requirement, but to help them connect with employers who are hiring now.”
The state’s unemployment rate also ticked down to 4% in May, down just a bit from 4.1% the month before. The decrease was mostly from people finding jobs, and not because of workers leaving the labor force as had been the trend in previous months.
In another positive sign, the state’s labor force participation rate inched up two-tenths of a percent to 67.9%, the first increase in three months.
The U.S. unemployment rate fell to 5.8% in May, from 6.1% the month before.
