Minnesota construction jobs spike in December

Minnesota employers added 8,900 seasonally adjusted jobs in December, and the construction industry accounted for more than half of those gains, according to figures released Thursday by the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development.

The gains nudged Minnesota’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate down to 3.1 percent from a revised rate of 3.2 percent in November. The rate is at its lowest point since July 2000, DEED said.

Construction led all sectors with 5,700 new seasonally adjusted jobs during the month. Seven industry sectors added jobs and four lost jobs.

Steve Hine, director of DEED’s Labor Information Office, said the seasonally adjusted increase in construction employment means there was a smaller decline in jobs than the state typically sees in December.

In raw numbers, Minnesota actually saw a 5.6 percent decline in construction jobs from November to December, but last year’s decrease was 9 percent, he said.

Minnesota’s construction industry now accounts for 127,300 jobs in seasonally adjusted numbers. The peak was 132,000 jobs in February 2006, Hine said.

Other industries with job gains in December were education and health services (2,500), trade, transportation and utilities (1,800), leisure and hospitality (1,800), government (200), logging and mining (100) and information (100). Information includes jobs in the media, public relations and related fields.

Professional and business services lost 1,400 jobs. Other sectors in negative territory were “other services” (down 1,100), manufacturing (down 600) and financial activities (down 200).

For the year in 2017, construction added 9,394 jobs, trailing only education and health services (12,626). Other job gainers were trade, transportation and utilities (7,027), professional and business services (4,424), manufacturing (3,889), other services (3,452), government (2,120), leisure and hospitality (2,095) and logging and mining (677).

Financial activities (down 808) and information (down 696) lost jobs in 2017.

The 12-month average unemployment rate among black Minnesotans dipped to 7.5 percent, the lowest ever recorded, according to DEED.

“As we enter 2018, we continue to make progress on ending Minnesota’s economic disparities, and all economic indicators point to continued growth in the state’s labor market,” DEED Commissioner Shawntera Hardy said in a press release. “Still, we have more work to do to connect all Minnesotans, specifically people of color, indigenous communities and people with disabilities, to employment and training opportunities to ensure that they succeed in today’s economy.”

The jobs picture
Minnesota year-over-year employment growth by industry sector as of December 2017

Source: Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development

Related:

• State’s construction sector adds 1,800 jobs in November