Minnesota employers added 5,000 jobs in November, according to DEED-released seasonally adjusted figures.

The following regions gained jobs in the past 12 months:

• Minneapolis-St. Paul Metropolitan Statistical Area (up 1.4 percent)
• Rochester MSA (up 2.6 percent)
• St. Cloud MSA (up 2.0 percent)
• Mankato MSA (up 0.4 percent)
• Duluth-Superior MSA (up 0.6 percent).

Read the complete news release here.

November brings positive news for construction. After three consecutive months of job loss, construction rebounded with a job gain of 3,400.

That’s better than usual. What accounts for the smaller-than-typical loss? Minnesota experienced an unusually warm-weather month. In fact, temperatures ran about 15 degrees warmer than average for the first week of November. Specialty trades accounts for another part of the answer, where the 2.3 percent decline in November was well below the recent six-year average of 4.1 percent.

There are interesting finds in the leading indicators in November.

• Workweek ‒ The average workweek of private-sector employees fell half an hour to 34 hours.
• Wage rates ‒ Private-sector average wage rates increased another quarter over the month to yield an annual wage growth rate of 5.9 percent, an all-time high dating back to 2008. Comparable national wage rates have increased 2.6 percent over the same time period.
• UI benefits ‒ Initial claims for unemployment benefits rose 650 in November but remained well below the 20,000 mark where it has been for the past 2 ½ years.

Finally, DEED examines the unemployment rate by demographics (race, age and gender) and looks at alternative measures of unemployment.