Minnesota officials said state employers added 7,200 jobs in November, which dropped the unemployment rate to 3.5 percent. That’s the lowest it has been since March, 2001.
The national unemployment rate for November was 5 percent.
DEED Commissioner Katie Clark Sieben said: “While the labor market is tightening, healthy job growth in November and recent wage gains are positive signs of an expanding economy.”
The monthly report notes that over the past 12 months the state has gained 32,130 jobs, a 1.1 percent rate. That compares to a 1.9 percent growth rate nationally.
The leading state sector over the past year: Professional and Business Services, which had 12,839 new jobs.
Government jobs dropped the most over the year, down 3,398.
