Another 9,100 Minnesotans have work in December compared to November, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. More than 2.7 million Minnesotans were working in December as the state added 51,900 jobs for the year for a growth rate of 1.9 percent. This is more than any year since 1999 said the Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED).
Minnesota recovery better than U.S.
“The state labor market is growing at a brisk pace, gaining more than 21,000 jobs in the final two months of 2012,” according to DEED Commissioner Katie Clark Sieben on Thursday. “Minnesota is recovering jobs well ahead of the rest of the country and is positioned to stay on that course in coming months.”
"We have developed some momentum in the last couple months that was sorely lacking throughout much of the middle eight months of the year, especially during the summer," DEED labor market economist Steve Hine said to the StarTribune.
Unemployment rate drops slightly
Minnesota’s unemployment rate dropped to 5.5 percent compared to November’s rate of 5.6 percent. The U.S. unemployment rate of 7.8 percent remains unchanged from November but it shows a 0.7 percentage points since December 2011. North Dakota leads the recovery from the Great Recession with only 3.2 percent unemployed.
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