Minnesota Shed 12,500 Jobs In October
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – Although Minnesota has gained more than 30,000 jobs over the last year, state economic officials announced Thursday that 12,500 jobs were shed in October.
Shawntera Hardy, the commissioner of the Department of Employment and Economic Development, called the lost jobs a "disappointment." However, she noted that the losses were just a snapshot in this year's overall image of growth.
She said the state's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate remains steady at 4 percent, while national unemployment rate looms higher at 4.9 percent.
The Minnesota sectors that saw the largest job losses last month were leisure and hospitality, trade and transportation, professional and business services, and education and health services.
Yet, those same sectors – chiefly education and health services -- also saw largest job increases over the last year.
Unemployment & Race
Data released Thursday also shows upticks in unemployment for the state's black and Latino residents.
While unemployment for blacks is down compared to last year, it did climb from 7.9 percent to 8.4 percent last month.
For the Latino population, the story is different. The trend shows increasing unemployment since last year, with the rate going form 2.2 percent in October 2015 to 6 percent in October 2016.
For whites, unemployment remains steady, year over year, at 2.9 percent.