Minnesota picked up 4,300 jobs in July, but the state unemployment rate remained at 5.2 percent, the state Department of Employment and Economic Development reported Thursday morning.
And DEED said the June jobs report was revised downward: from 400 jobs gained to 1,000 jobs lost.
The national unemployment rate remained at 7.4 percent in July.
DEED Commissioner Katie Clark Sieben gave the July numbers a positive spin:
“On an annual basis, the Minnesota labor market is recovering at a pace we haven’t seen since the expansion of the 1990s. We’re edging closer to pre-recessionary employment levels, needing to add just 5,500 jobs to regain all the jobs that were lost in the recession.”
Government was the big job creator in July: up 4,000 jobs.
Other gainers:
- Financial activities (up 2,300)
- Leisure and hospitality (up 1,400)
- Other services (up 1,300)
- Information (up 1,100)
- Professional and business services (up 100)
- Logging and mining (steady)
Losses in July cam from:
- Education and health care (down 2,600)
- Construction (down 1,700)
- Manufacturing (down 1,400)
- Trade, transportation and utilities (down 200).
