MN Finally Recoups Private Sector Jobs Lost to COVID Shutdown

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St. Paul, MN (KROC-AM News) - It took nearly 3 years, but the latest jobs report from the state shows Minnesota has finally regained all of the private sector jobs that were lost during the first few months of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development says the state saw a net gain of 10,100 jobs in February. 9400 of those jobs were in the private sector. That boosted the state's net gain in jobs since May 2022 to about 388,700 jobs, which is nearly 3,000 more than the 385,900 jobs lost from February through April 2020. Overall, Minnesota has regained about 405,900 of the 416,000 jobs that were lost during the COVID economic shutdown.

Despite the jobs gains, Minnesota's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate and just up a tenth of a percentage point to 3% in February. A year ago, the statewide jobless rate was 3.1%.

Over the past year, Minnesota has experienced a net gain of about 65,000 jobs for a job growth rate of 2.3%, which legs behind the 3.2% growth rate for the nation as a whole. The Rochester area has added nearly 3800 jobs during the previous 12 months for a job growth rate of 3.2%, which is the strongest growth rate among the state's five major metropolitan areas.