In October, the Minnesota unemployment rate fell 0.4 percent to a seasonally adjusted 3.3 percent. The U.S. unemployment rate was 4.1 percent.

The Twin Cities is tied for the lowest unemployment rate of any large metropolitan area in new numbers from the USDOL Bureau of Labor Statistics. The statistics cover some 1.9 million people in Minneapolis - St. Paul - Bloomington's "civilian labor force" – only 2.3 percent were out of work in October. Minneapolitans are tied with Nashvillians for the lowest urban unemployment rate among 51 metropolitan areas with over one million people. And Ames, Iowa had the tiniest 1.4 percent unemployment rate for October, among all metro areas.

The state lost 4,500 jobs in October. Over the past year, Minnesota gained 41,372 jobs, an increase of 1.4 percent, matching the U.S. rate..

• Leisure and hospitality gained 1,400 jobs over the month and 6,776 jobs over the year The 3,100 job gain came from Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation. That’s quite the reversal from September, when the sector lost 1,700 jobs.
• Manufacturing is seeing a positive growth trend in both durable and nondurable goods manufacturing. The key number is 322,400. That’s the October adjusted employment number – the highest for the manufacturing sector since January 2009.
• Smaller gains in Government and Government was up 500 and information was up 400.
• These industries dropped jobs: education and health services (down 2,400), construction (down 2,300), trade, transportation and utilities (down 1,600).
• Annual (over the year) job growth in Minnesota continued to outpace the US in nine of 11 major industry sectors. Minnesota lags behind in financial activities and professional and business services.

Metropolitan Statistical Areas

There were sizeable job gains in all Metropolitan Statistical Areas, in the past 12 months:

• Minneapolis - St. Paul MSA (up 2.4 percent)
• Duluth - Superior MSA (up 1.6 percent)
• Rochester MSA (up 0.5 percent)
• St. Cloud MSA (up 1.6 percent)
• Mankato MSA (up 1.6 percent)

Alternative Measures of Unemployment

Alternative measures of unemployment provides a more complete picture of the labor market. The numbers taken from the Current Population Survey are averages over the past 12 months; thus, they do not fully reflect recent trends.

As of October 2017, Minnesota’s over-the-year changes in unemployment rate by race or ethnicity includes:

• Black or African American, 8.0 percent, compared to 8.4 percent in October 2016.
• White, 3.0 percent, compared to 2.9 percent in October 2016.
• Hispanic or Latino, 5.1 percent, compared to 6.0 percent in October 2016.

As of October 2017, Minnesota’s over-the-year changes in unemployment rate by age and gender includes:

• Teens (age 16-19), 11.8 percent, compared to 8.6 percent in October 2016.
• Men, 4.3 percent, compared to 4.5 percent in October 2016.
• Women, 2.9 percent, compared to 2.9 percent in October 2016.