Minnesota’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate fell to its lowest level since June 2000 – 3 percent. Our unemployment rate has been at or below 4 percent for four consecutive years. (The US unemployment rate in July was 3.9 percent.)

Employers added 11,200 jobs in July and 31,800 jobs over the past three months, the third-highest number of new jobs over a three-month span dating back to 1990.

Details:

• Monthly gains across the major sectors were widespread; only two sectors lost jobs. The largest job gains were in education & health care (up 2,900), government (up 2,400), trade, transportation & utilities (+2,200), manufacturing (+1,500), and professional & business services (+1,400). Smaller gains occurred in construction (+500), leisure & hospitality (+400), and information (+200). Small losses came in other services (down 200) and logging & mining (down 100). Financial activities was steady.

• Annual job growth by major industry sector looked much better in most areas due to July’s strong numbers. Leisure & hospitality led all sectors both in terms of number of jobs added and employment growth rate – and set all-time highs dating back to 1991. The number of sectors shedding jobs over the year fell from 3 to 2 as logging & mining managed a slight 21 job increase, leaving financial activities and other services as the two remaining losers. Construction and manufacturing also stand out, along with leisure & hospitality, as sectors with annual growth far in excess of the overall rate of 2.0%. The 9,441 additional manufacturing jobs is a new post-recessionary high for the industry.

• The private sector average work week increased to 34.4 hours in July, matching the work week for last July, while the private sector average wage rate rose by 26 cents to $29.03. Since the previous July, private sector wages have increased by 61 cents or 2.1%, well short of the 2.9% increase in the Consumer Price Index over the same time period.

Unofficial data from the Current Population Survey suggests that the growing number of Minnesota’s black population entering the labor force underlies the job gains of July. Tight conditions are improving outcomes for more disadvantaged groups: Unemployment for those with less than a high school diploma dropped from 12.4% to 5.6%, due in large part to teen unemployment falling from 12.1% to 6.3%.

Here are the numbers.

Metropolitan Statistical Areas

All regions gained jobs over the past 12 months:

• Minneapolis-St. Paul MSA (up 2.2 percent)
• Duluth-Superior MSA (up 1.4 percent)
• Rochester MSA (up 0.3 percent)
• St. Cloud MSA (up 1.9 percent)
• Mankato MSA (up 6.9 percent)

Summer Statistical Snapshot

Here is the economic snapshot for July. Highlights:

• 1-year growth in employment was 2.0 percent, ranking 20th nationwide. (US, 1.8 percent)
• Minnesota’s job creation since January 2011 was 317,100 or an 11.9 percent increase. (National growth rate, 13.9 percent)
• Minnesota’s labor force participation rate was 70.5 percent, ranking second highest nationwide. (US, 62.9 percent)
• The unemployment rate was 3.0 percent, seasonally adjusted, the 10th lowest (US rate, 3.9 percent)

Central Lakes College Builds Community

The tight labor market in Greater Minnesota is leading to high demand for workers in both skilled and unskilled positions. To address this need, Central Lakes College (CLC), located in Brainerd and Staples, is working with surrounding communities and employers to train and place workers from all backgrounds. From recent high school graduates to those making a career transition, CLC programs are putting people to work at a high rate in leading regional industries.

For one, Central Lakes and the Brainerd area have one of the best welding labs in the state.

Central Lakes College awarded over 950 students with a post-secondary award in 2014, according to data from DEED’s Graduate Employment Outcomes tool. And three years later, nearly 80 percent of these graduates were working in Minnesota – and half of those were employed in Northwest Minnesota.

Read more in the Northwest Region’s Local Look.

Millionaires in Minnesota

Minnesota is tied for 11th place nationally with the District of Columbia for concentration of millionaire households. An analysis by Kiplinger found that 6.57 percent of Minnesota households (144,944) have a net worth of at least $1 million, excluding the value of real estate. The state with the highest concentration of millionaire households? Maryland, at 7.87 percent.