Minnesota added 7,200 jobs in September, unemployment rate hits 8-year low

Minnesota employers added 7,200 jobs in September and the unemployment rate continued its downward march to 4.1 percent, the lowest level since 2006.

The September gains, combined with August figures that were revised upward by 2,700 jobs, bring job growth so far in 2014 to 23,000, according to figures released Thursday by the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development.

All of the gains in September were in the private sector. Government shed 4,200 jobs on the month.

Professional and business services and leisure and hospitality were the big gainers, adding 4,100 and 3,900 jobs respectively on the month.

The official unemployment rate, already well below the national average of 5.9 percent, continued to fall along with the labor force participation rate -- the share of the working age population that is working or looking for work.

"Unemployment has been cut in half since its recessionary high," said Steve Hine, the state labor market economist.

The labor force participation rate ticked downward to 69.8 percent in September, mostly as a result of Boomer retirements. The last time the rate was that low was 34 years ago, in September 1980.

The state's monthly job report is an estimate that can deviate significantly from the more refined results that are released several months after the fact. For instance, the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages, widely considered the gold standard for job numbers, shows that from March 2013 to March 2014, the state added only 19,000 jobs.

That was less than half the gains shown by the monthly job reports over the same period, and cast new doubt on the accuracy of the monthly figures. But the monthly numbers, based on a shrinking survey sample, are still the best available approximation in something close to real time.

"They continue to be the best estimates we have of how the job market has done over the past few months," Hine said.

From DEED:

Professional and business services led all sectors in September with 4,100 job gains. Other sectors that added jobs were leisure and hospitality (up 3,900), other services (up 1,300), education and health services (up 1,100), manufacturing (up 1,100), trade, transportation and utilities (up 300) and construction (up 200). Information held steady for the month.

Over the past 12 months, professional and business services led all sectors with 11,161 new jobs, followed by manufacturing (up 10,376), education and health services (up 8,022), construction (up 6,996), leisure and hospitality (up 4,901), government (up 2,347), trade, transportation and utilities (up 1,007), information (up 851), other services (up 678), and logging and mining (up 541).

Financial activities lost 1,752 jobs over the past 12 months.