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Business North - The Daily Briefing - Business Newspaper Online
Minnesota report signals job losses have bottomed
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October unemployment rate rose, but so did net job numbers. 11/19/2009 by Wayne Nelson |
October unemployment rate rose, but so did net job numbers.
Despite the apparent anomaly, Minnesota’s unemployment rate inched up by 0.2 percent in October from the previous month as employers were adding a net 2,200 jobs statewide.
The monthly report, released Wednesday, Nov. 19 by the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development said unemployment rose to a seasonally adjusted 7.6 percent from a revised 7.4 percent in September. While the data suggests slight improvement, the state’s economy remains fragile, said Commissioner Dan McElroy, announcing the results in Duluth.
“We’re not out of the woods, not even turning the corner, but it’s better than not adding 2,200 jobs,” he said.
The U.S. unemployment rate in October rose to 10.2 percent from 9.8 percent in September.
McElroy said job growth in six industry sectors in Minnesota is a positive sign “and the widening gap between the state’s and nation’s unemployment rates also is noteworthy.”
Those improving industries are professional and business services, up 5,500 jobs statewide (about half of them filled through temporary services employment; education and health services, up 3,700; leisure and hospitality, up 1,700; government, up 1,600, information, up 300; and financial activities, up 200.
“Employment growth in temporary help is a leading indicator of an economic recovery, and we are hoping this three-month trend continues,” McElroy said.
In the Duluth/Superior Metropolitan Statistical Area — which includes Carlton and St. Louis counties in Minnesota and Douglas County Wisconsin — the single bright spot was the education sector where employers reported a gain of 721 jobs during October.
During 2009, the Duluth/Superior SMA has been the state’s hardest hit by job losses by percentage, a decline of 4.1 percent, or a net loss of 5,500, according to the state agency.
Several of the state’s hardest-hit sectors underpin the Duluth/Superior area economy, including transportation and utilities, construction, leisure and hospitality, logging and mining.
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