Another positive jobs report for August means Minnesota has recovered all the jobs lost in a 2008 recession.
Minnesota employers added 12,200 jobs in August, eclipsing the total number of jobs in February 2008 by 5,100 jobs, according to the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development. The state has added 63,100 jobs in the past year, for a growth rate of 2.3 percent which exceeds the national growth rate of 1.7 percent.
The state unemployment rate dropped one-tenth of a percent in August, to a seasonally adjusted 5.1 percent — the lowest level since April 2008, and lower than the U.S. unemployment rate of 7.3 percent.
“August’s employment numbers mark a major milestone in the recovery of Minnesota’s economy,” DEED Commissioner Katie Clark Sieben said. “We’ve now recovered all of the jobs lost during the recession, which is one of many positive indicators pointing to continued economic growth.”
Industrial sectors like education and health care, government, construction, financial activities, leisure and hospitality gained jobs last month, while logging and mining held steady. Manufacturing, professional and business services, and information lost jobs in August. During the past year, all sectors except manufacturing gained jobs.
