Minnesota gained 11,500 jobs, up 0.4% in the last month on a seasonally adjusted basis following the addition of 13,000 (revised up from 5,200) jobs in February 2022, according to numbers released today by the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED). The private sector gained 11,000 jobs, up 0.4% following the addition of 12,800 (revised up from 5,100) jobs in February. This is the sixth straight month that Minnesota has seen job growth.

Minnesota's labor force participation rate rose from 67.9% to 68.1% and the unemployment rate ticked down two-tenths of a point to 2.5% in March 2022 from 2.7% in February 2022, a tie with its lowest level ever recorded, in February 1999. The decline over-the-month was entirely due to people moving from unemployment to employment. Nationally, the labor force participation rate ticked up 0.1% to 62.4% and the unemployment rate fell two-tenths of a percentage point to 3.6%.

"It's good news for Minnesota that more people are returning to the labor force as job growth continues to surge," said DEED Commissioner Steve Grove. "However, many Minnesotans who want to work are not connecting with stable employment. DEED is working to build bridges between employers and communities that are too often overlooked – workers of colors, workers with disabilities, and new immigrants – to empower the growth of the Minnesota economy for everyone."

Minnesota lost 417,600 jobs from February through April 2020 and has since gained 315,900 jobs as of March 2022, or 76% of the jobs lost on a seasonally adjusted basis. The private sector has regained 310,900 jobs, or 80% of the jobs lost.

The U.S. gained 431,000 jobs, up 0.3% from February to March 2022, with the private sector adding 426,000 jobs, also up 0.3% on a seasonally adjusted basis.

Over the month in Minnesota, ten supersectors gained jobs and one lost jobs on a seasonally adjusted basis in March.

• Gains were in Mining and Logging (up 100 jobs), Construction (up 100), Manufacturing (up 2,300), Trade, Transportation, and Utilities (up 2,000), Information (up 500), Financial Activities (up 1,800), Professional and Business Services (up 700), Educational and Health Services (up 900), Leisure and Hospitality (up 1,100), and Government (up 100).
• Other Services lost 200 jobs, a 0.2% drop.

Over the year, Minnesota gained 68,540 payroll jobs, up 2.5%, over the year. The private sector gained 67,584 jobs, up 2.8% over the year. For pre-pandemic comparison, these gains put total nonfarm employment 77,874 jobs short of March 2020 employment, and 53,351 jobs short in the private sector.

• Nine supersectors saw positive over-the-year growth, especially Leisure and Hospitality up 36,198 jobs (18.1%); Other Services up 3,872 jobs (3.8%); and Manufacturing up 12,944 (4.2%).
• Two supersectors posted declines over the year, Financial Activities down 1,562 (0.8%) and Education & Health Services, down 326 jobs (0.1%).

February job revisions were largest in Trade, Transportation and Utilities – up 3,300 jobs more than originally estimated – with Retail Trade up 2,800 jobs, Leisure & Hospitality up 2,800 jobs, and Manufacturing up 1,300 jobs. Information and Financial Activities were each down 300 jobs. We're seeing larger revisions than usual as the economy is quickly recovering and job numbers are quickly changing across many industries.

U.S. employment grew 4.6% over the year with the private sector up 5.0% in March. All supersectors showed gains over the year with the exception of Mining & Logging, which was down 14,000 jobs (2.3%). Four supersectors in Minnesota showed strength over the year compared to the U.S.: Leisure & Hospitality, Other Services, Manufacturing, and Mining & Logging.

Employment recovery has not been consistent for all Minnesotans. Black and Hispanic Minnesotans continue to experience higher unemployment rates than white Minnesotans, as shown in the table below. Unemployment by race is based on 12-month moving averages to help even out inconsistencies due to small sample sizes.

Unemployment rates by race - March 2022

(source: CPS Demecon, 12-month moving averages):

A recent report from DEED's Labor Market Information office shows that despite the ongoing jobs recovery, some Minnesotans are being left behind in returning to stable employment, especially those who are Black, over age 55, and/or have lower levels of educational attainment. The same challenges that hindered certain workers from accessing stable employment at living wages before the pandemic –including racial disparities, education achievement gaps, and other barriers such as older age – continue to prevent them from reentering the labor market. DEED is committed to addressing these barriers and reducing employment and economic disparities, which hurt all of us. DEED is posting a series of racial equity-focused blogs that outline our detailed strategies – the second blog was published today – for how we are confronting these systemic inequalities during this critical point in our economy.

In Minnesota and across the nation, wages are not currently keeping up with the rate of inflation. In Minnesota, the average hourly wage increase for all private sector workers, at 4.9% over the year, was almost half of 8.5% inflation in March 2022. Over two years the comparison was 6.3% for private sector wages in MN compared to 11.4% inflation. Nationally private sector wages rose 5.8% over the year and 9.6% over two years.

High-demand, low-wage jobs are seeing greater average wage increases in many cases:

• The average wage for production workers in Nursing & Residential Care Facilities, at $21.62 in March 2022, rose 13.8% over the year and 13.8% over two years.
• The average wage for production workers in Food Services and Drinking Places, at $16.76 in March 2022, rose 10.3% over the year and 17.0% over two years. This is a decline from its highest point in December 2021.
• The average hourly wage for production workers in Retail Trade had shown a slight decline in late 2021 and is growing slower so far this year.  At $18.66 in March 2022, the average wage grew 2.5% over the year, but grew 14.3% over 2 years.

Minnesota and U.S. Employment and Unemployment – March 2022

Minnesota and U.S. Over-the-Year (OTY) Employment Change, Not Seasonally Adjusted: March 2021 – March 2022

Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) Over-the-Year (OTY) Employment Change, Not Seasonally Adjusted: March 2021 – March 2022

(February 2021 – February 2022 for border state MSAs due to data delay from MSAs outside Minnesota.)

Starting with this month's employment numbers release, you will see data for Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) that border Minnesota. DEED has added this employment change data for MSAs that are located in other states but that also include Minnesota counties. We are adding this information because it's helpful to track employment change in these important regions, even if they are headquartered in neighboring states. Because we don't have early access to data from MSAs that are not primarily based within Minnesota, we use publicly available data from other states for the previous month.

Visit the DEED website to see DEED's alternative measures of unemployment. You can also find monthly jobs numbers and unemployment data on DEED's website. Access resources to help Minnesotans prepare for and find employment now at CareerForceMN.com/GoodJobsNow.