Minnesota Lost More Than 8,000 Jobs In January
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – State economic officials say Minnesota shed more than 8,000 jobs in January.
The Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) announced Thursday that state employers cut 8,300 jobs in the first month of 2017 while unemployment remained steady at 4 percent. The national unemployment rate is 4.8 percent.
DEED Commissioner Shawntera Hardy said the drop in jobs was likely a temporary correction to the labor market, which has shown "solid growth," with 10 of the 11 major industrial sectors gaining jobs.
The only sector to lose jobs was manufacturing.
Over the last year, Minnesota gained 35,136 jobs, an increase of 1.2 percent, DEED says. That rate of growth is slightly lower than the national growth rate, which is at 1.5 percent.
The Minnesota jobs lost in January were mostly in transportation and utilities, government, and professional services.
