The Twin Cities boasts the best unemployment rate of any large metropolitan area in the United States as a wave of recent hiring boost the local economy.
Job growth across a mix of industries in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area lowered the jobless rate to 4.0 percent in May, edging out Austin, Texas, and Columbus, Ohio, for the nation's lowest rate, the U.S. Department of Labor reported Tuesday.
"It's fantastic news," said Katie Clark Sieben, commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development. "This is a reflection of the healthy economy and a labor force we have in the state that's very well-educated and hardworking."
The economic downturn hit many other states harder than Minnesota, which has also had a forceful recovery.
The unemployment rate — which does not count those who have given up looking for a job — has dropped in the Twin Cities by a full percentage point since February.
"Number one, the health care economy never slacked off during the recession and then has continued to boom," said Louis Johnston, an economist at the College of St. Benedict and St. John's University. "We have a big footprint in health care, both with medical devices and indirectly with UnitedHealth."
Johnston also said the oil boom in North Dakota has helped the Twin Cities job market in subtle ways that aren't felt in other major cities.
"We're the closest metropolitan area to the Bakken, and I think that's helped us a lot, especially in finance, insurance and logistics," he said.
