Central Minnesota is a manufacturing stronghold, with several global manufacturing firms operating there.
The region is especially well known for its expertise in food processing, printing, furniture manufacturing, appliances, machinery and heavy equipment manufacturing.
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11/27/2023 9:00:00 AM
Luke Greiner
Retail Trade is an important industry in Central Minnesota, both for holiday shopping and for employment. The 13-county planning region had more than 36,250 jobs at 2,174 establishments in the second quarter of 2023, accounting for about 13% of total jobs (or about one in every eight jobs). At that level, Central Minnesota actually has the highest share of Retail Trade employment of the six regions in the state, and such employment is much more concentrated here than the state as a whole (see Figure 1).
As the holiday season approaches, retailers in Central Minnesota typically increase hiring from the third to the fourth quarter each year, averaging a gain of nearly 400 jobs, or 1.0%, over the past 5 years. The biggest quarterly increase came back in 2020 following the Pandemic Recession, before settling into more measured gains heading into the past two winters. Hiring is heightened in the fourth quarter, as retailers compete to attract workers in a tight labor market.
This demand is also reflected in rising job vacancies reported by retailers in the region. There were about 3,350 job vacancies in Retail Trade in 2022, which was the largest number of any industry, even surpassing Health Care & Social Assistance. It was also the third highest number of vacancies ever reported in the Retail Trade industry in Central Minnesota, going all the way back to 2001 (see Figure 2).
Specific occupations in high demand in Retail Trade include:
All six of these occupations can be started with a high school diploma or less, and most rely on short-term on-the-job training and related work experience. For jobseekers who are also looking for flexibility, about half of the retail sales job vacancies are part-time.
Contact Luke Greiner, Labor Market Analyst, at luke.greiner@state.mn.us
