Labor Market Information

Labor Market Information - Economic Highlights

July 04, 2009

Unemployment Rates
	May 2009	April 2009	May 2008
Minnesota
Seasonally Adjusted	8.2%	8.0%	5.3%
Not Seasonally Adjusted	7.8%	8.1%	4.9%
United States
Seasonally Adjusted	9.4%	8.9%	5.5%
Not Seasonally Adjusted	9.1%	8.6%	5.2%

Source: Local Area Unemployment Statistics (DEED/BLS)
More national, state and substate LAUS data.

State and National Unemployment Rates

Minnesota's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate rose slightly to 8.2 percent in May. The total number of unemployed workers in Minnesota rose by 3,700 to 242,000.

The national unemployment rate rose to 9.4 percent in May.

Calendar of scheduled releases.

County Unemployment Rates

The map displays county and city unemployment rates for May. Roll cursor over map to view county or city name and unemployment rate in box below. Click on county or city to view historical data. Click on "Zoom to Metro" link above to view Twin Cities metro area.

County and city unemployment rates are not seasonally adjusted and should be compared to the not seasonally adjusted statewide and national rates, which were at 7.8 and 9.1 percent respectively in May.

Calendar of scheduled releases.

Current Employment Statistics Non-farm Total Employment

Source: Current Employment Statistics (DEED/BLS)
More national, state and substate CES details.

Nonfarm Jobs

Minnesota lost 95,900 jobs over the year in May, down 3.4 percent.

Two sectors continue to show job gains over the year, Education & Health Services, up 19,700 jobs, and Government, up 2,600 jobs. All other sectors are showing job losses, with the largest declines in Manufacturing, down 34,800 jobs, and Professional & Business Services, down 30,600 jobs over the year.

Nationally, the rate of annual job loss rose to 4.0 percent.

Calendar of scheduled releases.

Minnesota Nonfarm Employment
	May - Seasonally Adjusted
	Minnesota		U.S.
	Number of Jobs Gained or Lost	Percent Change	Percent Change
Total Nonfarm Employment	-1,600	-0.1	-0.3
Natural Resources & Mining	-600	-10.7	-1.3
Construction	900	-0.9	-0.9
Manufacturing	-2,100	-0.7	-1.3
Trade, Transport & Utilities	-7,000	-1.4	-0.2
Information	-700	-1.2	-0.8
Financial Activities	200	0.1	-0.4
Professional & Business Svcs	-300	-0.1	-0.3
Education & Health Services	100	0.0	0.2
Leisure & Hospitality	7,100	3.0	0.0
Other Services	0	0.0	0.0
Government	800	0.2	0.0

Source: Current Employment Statistics (DEED/BLS)
More national, state and substate CES data.

Industrial Sector Highlights

Minnesota's nonfarm economy lost 1,600 jobs in May, down 0.1 percent from April on a seasonally adjusted basis. Five sectors added jobs, five sectors lost jobs, and one sector remained unchanged.

Leisure & Hospitality rebounded, up 7,100 jobs mostly in restaurants and bars.

Construction added 900 jobs, the first month of growth in two years. The increase resulted from a 50 percent surge in highway construction jobs and strength in specialty trade contractors.

Government added 800 jobs, all in local government.

Job losses in the Trade, Transportation & Utilities sector were spread across its three major components, including a loss of 2,100 in wholesale trade, 2,500 in retail trade, largely in auto dealerships, and 2,400 in transportation, warehousing and utilities.

Losses in Manufacturing were particularly sharp in computers and electronicsand fabricated metals.

Calendar of scheduled releases.

Source: Unemployment Insurance Statistics (DEED)
For more details, go here.

Unemployment Insurance (UI) Claims

During May, Minnesota's statewide total of 34,890 initial claims was 17,357 higher (78.8 percent) than May of 2008. However, there were nearly 300 fewer claims than in April. Most of the over the year increase was in Manufacturing, in which there were 8,811 claims compared to May 2008's 2,901 claims - a 203.7 percent increase. Claims in Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing & Hunting increased by 1 over the year, up to 128 for May 2009. All other industries saw increases of 30 percent or more. The most substantial percentage change occurred in the Mining industry, in which claims increased to 1,525, nearly 40 times last year's 39 claims.

Calendar of scheduled releases.

Job Vacancies and Unemployed Workers
Source: Minnesota Job Vacancy Survey (DEED)
For more details, go here.

Job Vacancies

The number of job vacancies fell 38.6 percent from one year ago, to 31,100, during fourth quarter 2008. All but one occupational group showed declines in the number of job vacancies compared to last year.

About 18,100 open positions, or 58 percent, were located in the Twin Cities seven-county area. The remaining 13,000 were in Greater Minnesota.

Overall, there were 5.7 unemployed workers for each job vacancy statewide. This ratio indicates that the fourth quarter 2008 labor market was the least favorable for job seekers during the history of the job vacancy series dating back to fourth quarter 2000.

Next Scheduled Update: September 2009

Labor Market Index

The Minnesota Labor Market Index headed upwards for the first time in nine months. April’s 1.7 percent jump to 116.5 was propelled by a significant drop in initial claims for unemployment. The other two components of the index, adjusted weekly manufacturing hours and seasonally adjusted wage and salary employment, declined dampening the index’s advance. An uptick in Minnesota’s LMI during the six previous recessions after extended months of decline occurred within one to three months when the bottom of past recessions. The national index decline for the 17th straight month but the drop was the smallest since the onset of the recession. Minnesota index is down 14.5 percent from a year ago while the U.S. index is down 19.4 percent.

Source: Minnesota Employment Review, DEED.