Unemployment sinks to another all-time low: 2 percent

Minnesota gains jobs for the eighth straight month; Labor force participation rises again

The unemployment rate ticked down two-tenths of a point to 2 percent in May 2022 – a new record low since the metric has been tracked in 1976, according to numbers released today by the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED). The decline in the unemployment rate over the month was entirely due to people moving from unemployment to employment. The labor force participation rate rose from 68.3 percent to 68.4 percent.

Nationally, the unemployment rate stayed the same at 3.6 percent and the labor force participation rate ticked up a tenth of a point to 62.3 percent

Minnesota has now gained jobs for eight months in a row. Minnesota gained 6,600 jobs in May, up 0.2 percent in the last month on a seasonally adjusted basis following the addition of 11,700 jobs (revised down from 11,900) in April. The private sector gained 7,500 jobs, up 0.3 percent, up from 11,000 in April (revised up from 10,600).

The U.S. gained 390,000 jobs, up 0.3 percent from April to May, with the private sector adding 333,000 jobs, also up 0.3 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis.

“Minnesota’s on course to continue adding jobs – if employers can find workers to fill them. We’re still down more than 75,000 people in our labor force since before the pandemic.” said DEED Commissioner Steve Grove. “That’s why we’ve launched our “Summer of Jobs” campaign to highlight the many opportunities in the job market, and to help employers find workers in labor pools they may have previously overlooked.”

DEED is continuing the Summer of Jobs campaign to highlight opportunities for employers and jobseekers across Minnesota. The campaign includes job shadowing some of the best-paying in-demand jobs available in the state, to highlight opportunities in manufacturing, healthcare, technology and beyond. It will also share best practices and opportunities for employers to find talent in groups too often overlooked, such as immigrant communities, Minnesotans with disabilities, and people recently released from correctional facilities.

Employment recovery has not been consistent for all Minnesotans. Black and Hispanic Minnesotans continue to experience higher unemployment rates than white Minnesotans. Unemployment by race is based on 12-month moving averages to help even out inconsistencies due to small sample sizes. Both Black and Hispanic Minnesotans have higher labor force participation rates than white Minnesotans, at 69.9 percent for Black Minnesotans and 79.6 percent for Hispanic Minnesotans and 68.4 percent for white Minnesotans.

U.S. employment grew 4.4 percent over the year, with the private sector up 4.8 percent.

Minnesota lost 417,600 jobs from February through April 2020 and has since gained 335,900 jobs as of May 2022, or 80 percent of the jobs lost on a seasonally adjusted basis. The private sector has regained 330,600 jobs, or 85 percent of the jobs lost.

In Minnesota and across the nation, wages are not currently keeping up with the rate of inflation. Over the year average hourly earnings rose $1.12, up 3.4 percent, less than half of the increase in consumer prices over the same period. According to numbers released last week by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Minneapolis-St. Paul saw a Consumer Price Index (CPI) increase of 8.7 percent over May last year. Nationally, private sector wages increased to $32.12, up 5.5 percent over the year, with the national average urban CPI up 8.6 percent in the same time period.