Today Minnesota has the 5^th lowest unemployment rate (3.6 percent) in the country and employment is now at an all-time high. The addition of jobs plus the recent change in the unemployment rate is particularly notable given the labor force participation rate held steady since July, indicating that the growth is being driven by economic strength rather than labor force departures.

Even with the low unemployment rate, there are still Minnesotans looking for work. DEED and partners served nearly 250,000 people in 2014 who experienced layoffs and downsizings.

Unemployment Insurance Program: When most people lose their jobs, they think of unemployment insurance. The program provided 2.8 million weeks of benefits to 197,000 applicants in 2014. One distinguishing characteristic of Minnesota's program is the average wait time when an applicant calls the Customer Service Center: Less than one minute. When assisting distraught applicants over the phone, staff also have ready access to service providers in communities around the state. Nobody does it better - and the U.S. Department of Labor concurs. UI also exceeds all federal measures in program delivery.

The Unemployment Insurance team won the USDOL's Performance Excellence Award for improving its appeals process in state UI cases. DEED created a new training program for unemployment law judges and developed an online self-service scheduling system for appealing UI benefit decisions.

UI also assisted applicants with structured assessments to create their own paths to employment, online learning experiences and a video.

Dislocated Worker Program: This program served nearly 15,000 laid-off Minnesotans via federal or state funds in the year ending June 2014. Minnesota placed nearly nine out of every 10 people leaving the program into full-time, unsubsidized employment (and over nine out of 10 of those kept the job for at least six months). Seven out of ten individuals received both employment and a credential. Minnesota met or exceeded all federal goals - and qualifies for a national incentive award this spring. The Rapid Response Team gave information presentations about the program to hundreds of laid-off Minnesotans in 2014.

Trade Adjustment Assistance: TAA provides additional training and related benefits to dislocated workers deemed 'trade-impacted.' TAA administered 3,377 individual benefits to customers in the year ending June 30, including 1,616 participants participating in training and nearly 70 in on-the-job training opportunities or registered apprenticeships.