Minnesota employers, contending with an ultratight labor market, have added jobs at a slower rate this year than last. But new data Thursday showed they are still finding some people to hire.
Minnesota added 3,400 jobs to its workforce of nearly 3 million people last month, the state jobs agency said. And the unemployment rate in October held at 2.8 percent — a level it reached in September for the first time since May 1999.
"With an overall 2.8 percent unemployment, employers are working harder to attract and retain talent," Shawntera Hardy, commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development, said in a statement.
May, June and July saw the biggest hiring gains of the year, averaging 9,300 hires a month. But for the rest of the year, the gains have been smaller and the overall pattern has been choppy.
The jobs agency, for instance, said Thursday that it had revised its data for September. Last month, it said employers cut 1,400 jobs, but a second look showed they added 500.
Measured on a yearly basis, Minnesota's hiring momentum slowed this fall. As recently as July, the annual change data showed Minnesota employers were hiring at a faster pace than the country as a whole.
But in the 12 months ended Oct. 31, the state added 36,450 jobs, a growth rate of 1.2 percent. The U.S. labor force grew at a 1.7 percent rate in the same period.
For Minnesota, that 12-month performance was below the 41,372 jobs it added during the 12 months that ended in October 2017. That figure amounted to 1.4 percent growth at the time.
