File photo "Now Hiring" sign. ((Photo by OLIVIER DOULIERY/AFP via Getty Images) (Getty Images)
ST. PAUL, Minn. (FOX 9) - For the fifth month in a row, Minnesota has added more jobs after gaining 9,500 from October to November, the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) has reported.
Minnesota jobs grew 0.3% on a seasonally adjusted basis last month, outpacing the national average, which saw a gain of 0.1%.
"Minnesota continues to see sustained and notable job growth, and we’re consistently adding jobs at a faster rate than the national average, which is phenomenal news for workers," said DEED Commissioner Matt Varilek in a statement Thursday. "We are confident that current and soon-to-be-launched efforts… will bring more people into the labor force in 2024."
Minnesota’s unemployment decreased to 3.1% in November, compared to 3.7% nationally during the same period. Throughout the last quarter, Minnesota jobs grew by 17,300, or 0.6% – ahead of the national average of 0.2%.
The labor force participation rate decreased to 68.3%, compared to 62.8% nationally.
Earlier this year, DEED declared that Minnesota had completely recovered from the jobs lost during the COVID-19 pandemic. Minnesota had previously lost 385,900 private sector jobs between February and April 2020.
During the summer, Minnesota reported four straight months of positive gains – the largest it had seen in the three years since the pandemic began.