St. Paul – Minnesota gained 7,000 jobs from September to October, outpacing national job growth, according to numbers released today by the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED). Minnesota reached its highest number of jobs on record at 3,001,300 in October, the first month when the seasonally adjusted jobs estimate surpassed 3 million.

Over-the-month job growth was led by big gains in the Education & Health Services, Professional & Business Services and Leisure & Hospitality sectors. Minnesota has added jobs nine out of the last 12 months.

The state's unemployment rate ticked up one-tenth of a percent to 3.2% in October, lower than the national rate of 3.9%. Minnesota's labor force was essentially flat, dipping by 84 people, the first monthly decline in eight months. Minnesota's labor force participation rate held steady for the fourth month at 68.5%, nearly six percentage points higher than the national rate, which decreased one-tenth of a percentage point to 62.7%. There continue to be many employment opportunities in Minnesota: As of August, there were 200,000 job openings in the state, according to national Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) data.

"There are many opportunities for job seekers right now – as there have been for quite some time in Minnesota," said DEED Deputy Commissioner Kevin McKinnon. "In October, we saw more good news in job growth, while we saw a pause in labor force growth after nearly three quarters of more and more people looking for work and landing jobs. DEED continues to work hard to make sure Minnesotans know about all the great reasons to join the labor force right now."

Most supersectors in Minnesota gained jobs on a seasonally-adjusted basis over the month from September to October, most notably:

• Education & Health Services, up 3,200 jobs
• Professional & Business Services, up 1,900 jobs
• Leisure & Hospitality, up 1,600 jobs
• Government and Construction, both up over 1,000 jobs each

Three supersectors lost jobs from September to October, most notably Manufacturing, down 1,700 jobs, and Financial Activities, down 1,600 jobs.

"The Healthcare & Social Assistance sector and Construction, especially Heavy and Civil Engineering Construction, continue to experience strong job growth," said DEED's Labor Market Information Office Director Angelina Nguyễn. "Declines in Non-Durable Goods Manufacturing and Finance & Insurance sectors lead the job losses we see in their respective supersectors."

Over the year, Minnesota gained 42,266 payroll jobs, up 1.4%. The private sector gained 30,263 jobs, up 1.2% over the year. All but four supersectors posted positive annual growth. Notable over-the-year growth continued in the following supersectors, which show stronger growth in Minnesota than nationally: 

• Construction continued its growth streak and gained 6,850 jobs, up 4.8% compared to 2.7% nationally
• Trade, Transportation, and Utilities gained 11,212 jobs, up 2.1% compared to 0.4% nationally
• Education & Health Services gained 25,247 jobs, up 4.5%, compared to the national rate of 4.2%

Some sectors in Minnesota underperformed their national counterparts. Over the year, Professional & Business Services lost 8,346 jobs, down 2.1%, while the U.S. grew 1.1%. Financial Activities lost 7,407 jobs over the year, down 3.8%, while the U.S. grew 0.7%. Manufacturing lost 4,270 jobs in Minnesota, down 1.3%, with the biggest declines in Food Manufacturing and Animal Slaughtering & Processing. U.S. manufacturing showed no change.