Rochester's health care industry continues to support the area's economic growth as the state keeps adding jobs.
Rochester area added health care jobs, reduced unemployment in September
About three in five workers in the Rochester area work in health care and social assistance.
October 27, 2023 at 4:00PM
The Rochester Metropolitan Statistical Area, which includes Dodge, Fillmore, Olmsted and Wabasha counties, gained more than 150 education and health care-related jobs in September, according to the data released this week by the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED).
All told, the area's education and health care industry has almost 3,000 more jobs than at the same time last year.
Local and state economists have pointed to Mayo Clinic, Minnesota's largest employer, as the primary driver behind Rochester's continued economic success. About three in five workers in the region hold jobs in health care and social assistance, according to Amanda O'Connell, a regional analyst with DEED.
"That's a pretty crazy number," she said, noting that jobs in those industries pay good wages compared to other industries.
The Rochester region was the first to recover jobs lost during the pandemic and continues to outperform most of the state in job gains and unemployment numbers.
More than 600 unemployed workers found jobs last month, contributing to Rochester's 2.1% unemployment in September — its lowest rate since November of last year. Only the Mankato area did better, with a 2% unemployment rate in September.
Other key industries in Rochester didn't fare as well, in part due to summer seasonal employment ending. The area lost more than 130 manufacturing jobs last month, about the same number of jobs lost in that industry compared with September of last year.
Rochester lost more than 170 retail jobs last month. Yet the region is still up more than 900 retail jobs from last year.
Rochester expects to add thousands of jobs over the next few years as Mayo Clinic's expansion kicks off. John Wade of Rochester Area Economic Development Inc. said the area is getting more interest from firms looking to move into the area.
"We've had a number of inquiries of late," Wade said. "We've had an uptick year over year, month over month. That's very optimistic as well."
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