The DEED Labor Market Information Office’s annual state-of-the-state Trends issue provides an overview of Minnesota’s labor market changes and job growth, takes a closer look at each of the state’s six regions, explores direct care workforce challenges, compares employment concentration by industry in different parts of Minnesota, and more.
By Angelina Nguyễn, Director of the Labor Market Information Office at the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED)
Minnesota’s extremely tight labor market remains a central feature of the state's economic landscape. The worker shortage continues to constrain job growth in the state, but more people are slowly joining the labor market, easing tightness. This article details long-standing demographic trends as well as other more recent factors to provide an overview of the state of the state’s current labor market situation.
Central Minnesota, like all regions of Minnesota and most parts of the country, is facing a tight labor market that is likely constraining job growth across multiple industry sectors. But Central Minnesota is showing resilience, with a strong job rebound from losses during the early days of the pandemic.
Post-pandemic economic recovery continues in Northeast Minnesota yet remains incomplete. As of 2022, the region had regained less than half of the jobs lost during the early days of the pandemic, likely due in large part to a lack of available workers.
While Northwest Minnesota’s supply of labor is constrained by an aging population, this trend has been in play since 2011 when the Baby Boomer generation began reaching the traditional retirement age of 65.
With a strong and growing economy, more and more recent high school graduates in Southeast Minnesota are choosing not to pursue a four-year college degree and instead are entering the workforce. The tight labor market is pushing up wages and pushing down educational requirements for some positions, creating a favorable job market for recent grads.
Southwest Minnesota's economy stands at a critical juncture as it navigates an aging population, declining labor force, and changing industry trends. By embracing proactive strategies, the region can overcome these challenges and position itself for long-term success.
The regions labor market has steadily recovered over the past several years, recently reaching both historical lows for unemployment and historical highs for job vacancies. This article analyzes regional labor market trends for 2022 and the beginning of 2023, focusing on labor force conditions, industry trends, and hiring demand.
The people who provide care to elders and Minnesotans with disabilities do work that is absolutely critical to the health and wellbeing of some of the state’s most vulnerable residents. Unfortunately, many people left positions in home-, community- and facility-based care during the pandemic and there aren’t currently enough workers to replace them. This article describes employment, wages and job openings in direct care and what could be done to address the workforce shortage.
Find out where employment for an industry is concentrated in Minnesota – and find out which industries are most concentrated in particular parts of Minnesota. Explore this information and more through a new DEED Labor Market Information office tool detailed in this article.
The Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS), released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics beginning in late 2021, provides supplemental detail to the monthly employment report. This article provides an overview of what JOLTS tracks, explores JOLTS uses, and identifies the states with the tightest labor markets based on recent data.
How are Minnesota’s Job Vacancy Survey (JVS) and the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) similar – and how do they differ? This article also provides a comparison of Minnesota’s JOLTS job openings estimates and JVS data.
