Minnesota adds 3,500 private-sector jobs, unemployment rate up to 2.3%

(FOX 9) - Minnesota's job market kept chugging in November along with the rest of the U.S., despite economic uncertainty swirling.

Minnesota added 6,800 jobs from the previous month, of which 3,500 were in the private sector. The unemployment rate increased to 2.3%, from 2.1% in October. It's the fourth straight month the jobless rate has ticked up, though it remains near historic lows and is better than the U.S. rate of 3.7%.

Competition for workers remained tight. The labor force participation rate, a measure that includes working people and those unemployed but looking for work, was flat at 67.9%. Labor force participation has taken a hit nationally, but especially in states with aging populations.

Minnesota has an estimated 210,000 job openings, three times as many openings as unemployed workers. The gap has shrunk somewhat in recent months; in July, the ratio was four openings for every available worker.

For the first time in many months, wages and inflation were even. Average private-sector wages grew 5.7% year-over-year statewide, compared with 5.3% inflation in the Twin Cities. The federal government surveys inflation in major metro areas, not states, and Minneapolis-St. Paul had the lowest inflation rate of any metro analyzed in November.

Minnesota manufacturers added 1,800 jobs in November, the most of any private-sector industry. Professional and business services gained 1,500 jobs, while education and health services added 1,400. The construction industry lost 2,300 jobs.