Minnesota's strong labor market is showing no signs of cooling off and is now outperforming the rest of the country.
New data released Thursday showed the state added more jobs in October than it has in any other month this year, while its unemployment rate remains among the nation's lowest.
"Despite another tumultuous year in the global economy as we've all seen, there's every reason to believe Minnesota's economy is in a position of strength," Steve Grove, commissioner of the state Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED), said after the latest jobs numbers came out.
While there have been a lot of headlines about layoffs coming out of Silicon Valley in recent weeks, he said Minnesota has not seen that kind of increase in job cuts. There have been only a handful of announcements from local companies.
New unemployment insurance claims in Minnesota remain low and at pre-pandemic levels. While they've ticked up a bit in recent weeks, Grove said that is typical for the state's seasonal economy with some industries, such as construction, going into winter hibernation.
The Federal Reserve has been aggressively raising interest rates to bring down high inflation, and policymakers hope to see signs that the red-hot labor market is starting to cool down. Unemployment rates are also expected to go up.
If that happens, Minnesota is better positioned than most other states because its unemployment rate remains so low. The state's jobless rate ticked up one-tenth of a percentage point in October to 2.1%, but it remains at a historically low level.
Earlier this year, Minnesota recorded the lowest state jobless rate in U.S. history at 1.8% and has remained the lowest. The U.S. unemployment rate in October was 3.7%.