Minnesota employers added 11,800 jobs in February, a welcome gain after a drop in January, according to figures released Thursday by the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development.
The agency also released revised figures showing that the number of jobs lost in January was 4,900, not 7,900 as initially reported.
"It jives with what I'm seeing on a lot of indicators," said Toby Madden, who tracks the regional economy for the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. "My contacts are saying that they're growing and looking to hire."
Also encouraging, he said, is that the growth is across most of the region and most industries.
Minnesota's job growth lags behind national job growth, but that's at least partly because Minnesota has less room for improvement. The state unemployment rate held steady at 3.7 percent, compared with the U.S. rate of 5.5 percent.
That happened despite an unusual rise in the labor force participation rate, which grew to 70.2 percent in February, indicating more of the population is either working or looking for a job. The state labor force surpassed the 3 million mark for the first time on record.
Despite the good news on jobs, wages are not rising. Private sector pay dropped 2 cents an hour in February. While some companies like Wal-Mart and Target recently raised their pay floors, real wages are stagnant over the past 12 months.
"From an overall level, the average wage has certainly not been showing any evidence that we're seeing employers compete for workers through higher wage offers," said Steve Hine, labor market economist at the state. "It's been something people have been watching for, wage earners have been hoping for."
