Editorial: Job growth steady, fragile in state, U.S.

Star Tribune Editorial

Technically, we're no longer enduring a "jobless recovery."

But as suggested this week by both the state and national unemployment reports, getting employment back anywhere near prerecession levels continues to be a long, hard slog.

At least hiring is going in the right direction.

In Minnesota, 2,000 jobs were created in January, according to the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development.

Over the past year, 16,500 jobs were added, for a growth rate of 0.6 percent.

The state unemployment rate fell to 6.7 percent, its lowest level since December 2008, about the time the economic downturn turned into the Great Recession.

Because the unemployment rate is dependent on the variable of labor force participation, the most important figure is the number of jobs created.

Indeed, this week's positive news may raise next month's unemployment rate if discouraged workers try to find jobs again and are counted in the survey.

As it is, the Great Recession has depressed labor participation to a 25-year low nationally, and in Minnesota, 4,600 gave up their searches in January.

This week's state report showed that health services and private education led the way, with 4,200 more jobs in January.

Other bright spots included the leisure and hospitality sector, which added 1,800; financial services, which was up 700; the extractions industries of logging and mining, up 500; professional and business services, up 400; construction, a once-hot sector that tacked on only 200; manufacturing, an increase of 200, and information industries, up 100.

The state numbers don't reflect recently announced layoffs at high-profile firms Medtronic and Boston Scientific.

The figures do account for job losses due to postholiday retail layoffs, which translated into 6,700 fewer jobs in the trade, transportation and utilities sector.

And the big, bloated government?

In Minnesota, government lost 300 jobs in a month and 1,700 in a year. Nationally, government employment is 377,000 workers off a peak reached in September 2008.

These figures may surprise some who think that a surge in government hiring is the key reason for the fiscal crisis. And it points out the perils of budget brinkmanship in Washington and St. Paul.

Here in Minnesota, Republican leaders in the state Legislature have not yet released a specific budget plan. But a previously introduced bill in the state House called for a 15 percent reduction in state workers over four years.

Of course, by law the state's budget needs to be balanced. And it's worth noting that DFL Gov. Mark Dayton's plan to solve the state deficit also calls for job cuts.

Every effort should be made to make only necessary and strategic cuts. More layoffs will only slow the still-fragile recovery.

And unlike with private-sector force reductions that reflect less demand for products and services, the need for government services increased as the economy declined.

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