business

In this case, less really is more.

Data released Thursday by state and federal labor officials show that fewer Minnesotans are applying for unemployment checks and that the rate of job losses in April showed signs of slowing, meaning more workers were navigating the turbulent economy to hang on to their jobs.

That combination gave some state officials hope that the economy might be stabilizing.

Unemployment checks in Minnesota fell from $52 million to $48.6 million between the weeks ended April 29 and May 16. And the state's unemployment rate dropped to 8.1 percent in April, from 8.2 percent in March. The U.S. unemployment rate for April was 8.9 percent.

In April, 2.67 million people were employed in Minnesota, although service firms, manufacturers, retailers and other employers cut 9,500 jobs. That's just a bit more than half the number lost in March, when employers cut 18,900 workers.

The state's employment data, released Thursday by the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED), were welcomed by some as a sign that the economic decline might be slowing.

But Tom Stinson, Minnesota's state economist, said that although April's job losses were fewer than those in March, "it's still not a very good situation to be in.

"In April we lost about one- fourth of a normal year's job growth," Stinson said. "We hope things begin to turn up by the start of 2010, but it's going to be a long slow climb out of the hole we are in."

Over the past year, Minnesota has lost 90,200 jobs, or 3.3 percent of its jobs, compared with a loss nationwide of 5.2 million jobs, or 3.8 percent.

State officials noted that Minnesota's job-loss rate slowed 0.4 percent in April and 0.7 percent in March. As a result, the state's unemployment rate is once again trailing that of the nation.

"This month's drop in the unemployment rate and the slowing rate of job loss are encouraging and may be early signs that the economy is poised for recovery. But we remain concerned about the economy and expect continued challenges in the months ahead," said DEED Commissioner Dan McElroy.

Workforce centers and job coaches around the state remained busy this week with fresh and veteran job seekers. Although employers have posted about 12,000 job openings on the state website www.minnesotaworks.net, it is taking job seekers an average of about 20 weeks to find a new job. That's up from 13 weeks a year ago, McElroy said.

On Wednesday at the Minnesota Workforce Center on Lake Street in Minneapolis, job seekers were out in full force, occupying all the computers right until closing time.

New layoffs hurt

A slew of new layoffs hasn't helped.

In April alone, Minnesota professional and service firms cut 5,900 jobs; manufacturers cut 2,400; trade/transportation/ utilities, 2,000, and financial firms, 2,000. Lesser job losses occurred in construction (900), government (500), logging/mining (400) and other services (600).

However, there were a couple of bright spots in Wednesday's report. Minnesota's education and health service firms added 4,700 jobs. Leisure and hospitality firms added 1,200. State officials also noted that housing starts are beginning to stabilize. McElroy said that Minnesota-based Andersen Windows called back workers after recent layoffs. He credited the energy rebates in the federal economic stimulus package for increasing demand for thermal windows.

Nationwide, about 13.7 million Americans are out of work, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. Researchers at Global Insight have predicted that the national jobless rate will reach 10.2 percent in 2010.

However, in a signal that the job picture may be stabilizing, U.S. initial claims for unemployment insurance fell by 12,000 to 631,000 for the week ended May 16. The four-week average fell by 3,500 claims to 628,500.

Economists said the declines might be the result of several actions just beginning to ripple through the economy. They cited the stimulus package, tax cuts, rising consumer spending, strengthening commodity prices and recent gains in the stock market.

Daniel Meckstroth, chief economist for Manufacturers Alliance/MAPI, said persistently high unemployment rates will restrain the pace of the recovery.

"There are, nonetheless, inklings of a future firming economy," he said.

Dee DePass • 612-673-7725