The presence of such industry powerhouses as Polaris, Arctic Cat and New Flyer make Northwest Minnesota a hub of transportation equipment manufacturing.
From wheat and potatoes to soybeans and sugar beets, the region is a major producer and processor of food staples and specialty agricultural products.
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6/22/2020 9:00:00 AM
Erik White
The first impacts of COVID-19 on the regional economy are evident in the release of April's Local Area Unemployment Statistics (LAUS). Unemployment rates have jumped for the nation, state, region and local counties compared to March's readings, especially in Northwest Minnesota. This reflects the rapid increase in the number of Unemployment Insurance (UI) applications in response to the measures taken to slow the spread of COVID-19, which had a significant impact on prominent regional industries like leisure and hospitality.
Minnesota's non-seasonally adjusted unemployment rate jumped from 3.5% in March to 8.6% in April, with 262,518 people unemployed. Statewide, this is the highest unemployment rate recorded since 1983. Northwest Minnesota had an unemployment rate of 8.7%, based on 26,111 people unemployed. The economic development regions in Northwest had unemployment rates ranging from 7.2% in West Central to 10.4% in the Headwaters. Meanwhile, EDR 1-Northwest had fewer than 4,000 unemployed workers, compared to 9,154 unemployed in EDR 4-West Central and 8,556 in EDR 5-North Central (see Table 1).
| April 2020 | March 2020 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Area | Total Labor Force | Employed Workers | Unemployed Workers | Unemp. Rate | Unemp. Rate |
| U S | 155,830,000 | 133,326,000 | 22,504,000 | 14.4% | 4.5% |
| Minnesota | 3,052,783 | 2,790,265 | 262,518 | 8.6% | 3.5% |
| Northwest Minnesota | 300,816 | 274,705 | 26,111 | 8.7% | 4.9% |
| EDR 1 - Northwest | 46,206 | 42,342 | 3,864 | 8.4% | 5.0% |
| EDR 2 - Headwaters | 43,560 | 39,023 | 4,537 | 10.4% | 5.6% |
| EDR 4 - West Central | 127,088 | 117,934 | 9,154 | 7.2% | 4.0% |
| EDR 5 - North Central | 83,962 | 75,406 | 8,556 | 10.2% | 5.9% |
| Source: DEED's Local Area Unemployment Statistics (LAUS) | |||||
Looking at unemployment rates by county in Northwest Minnesota, the wide spread between rates of unemployment become apparent. Stevens County, located in West Central, reported an unemployment rate of just 3.8%, while Mahnomen County jumped to 17.4%, the highest county unemployment rate in the state. The temporary closing of the casino in Mahnomen County had a major impact on UI applications, whereas counties that are more agriculture-dependent saw a less drastic impact on the local economy. Other counties that saw unemployment rates rise above 10% include Clearwater, Cass, Wadena, Crow Wing and Hubbard, all places with stronger concentrations of food service and retail (see Figure 1).
It should be noted that the unemployment rate does not reflect a count of people collecting UI benefits. View UI Statistics.
Contact Erik White.
