Red Rock On Air

ST. PAUL – Minnesota employers added 2,000 jobs in November, according to figures released today by the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED). October’s job gains were also revised upward to 5,000 from 2,200.

The state unemployment rate fell 0.2 percent to a seasonally adjusted 7.4 percent, which was 2.6 percent below the U.S. unemployment rate of 10 percent in November.

“State labor markets continue to show signs of improvement,” said DEED Commissioner Dan McElroy. “We are also seeing a steady uptick in the average amount of hours worked, another sign of strengthening market conditions.”

In Minnesota the average hours worked by employees has increased from 32.2 hours in September, to 32.6 in October and 33.1 in November.

Trade, transportation and utilities gained the most jobs in November, adding 2,600 positions, with particular strength in the retail sector. Gains were also seen in professional and business services (up 1,700), construction (up 1,200), manufacturing (up 800), financial activities (up 400), and logging and mining (up 200).

Job losses occurred in government (down 2,400), education and health services (down 1,100), information (down 900), other services (down 400), and leisure and hospitality (down 100).

Over the past year, education and health services has added 8,300 jobs in the state.

Job losses have occurred in the past 12 months in manufacturing (down 36,500), professional and business services (down 17,600), trade, transportation and utilities (down 15,600), construction (down 6,000), government (down 5,000), other services (down 3,800), information (down 3,000), leisure and hospitality (down 3,000), logging and mining (down 1,200), and financial activities (down 600).

Over the past year, Minnesota has lost about 83,900 positions or 3 percent of its jobs. During that same period, the U.S. lost about 3.4 percent of its jobs.

“I am optimistic about the positive trend of this employment data, but economic recovery is still in its early stages. I encourage people looking for work to visit their local WorkForce Center for help finding a new job,” McElroy said.

In the state’s Metropolitan Statistical Areas, over-the-year job losses occurred in the Duluth-Superior MSA (down 3.8 percent), Minneapolis-St. Paul MSA (down 3 percent), Rochester MSA (down 0.6 percent) and St. Cloud MSA (down 3.6 percent).

Additional information on the state’s 47 WorkForce Centers and the November employment figures is available at www.PositivelyMinnesota.com .

MADISON – Department of Workforce Development (DWD) Secretary Roberta Gassman announced today that Wisconsin’s unemployment rate for November was 7.8 percent, up 0.1 percentage points from October’s final rate of 7.7 percent.

The national rate decreased one-tenth of a percentage point to 9.4 percent, after two months at 9.5 percent. The Wisconsin rate is 2.6 percentage points higher than one year ago, when it stood at 5.2 percent. The national rate is 2.9 percentage points higher than one year ago, when it stood at 6.5 percent.

“Wisconsin’s unemployment rate continues to hold steady and remains below the national rate,” Secretary Gassman said. “While this is encouraging news, we know many remain unemployed and we are doing all that we can to put them back to work and move the economy forward.”

From October to November, total Wisconsin non-farm jobs decreased by an estimated 9,800 to 2,751,200. Service Producers decreased by 3,700 jobs over the month, while Goods Producers lost 6,100 jobs. Among Service Producers, Trade increased by 6,100, while Leisure & Hospitality lost 11,900.  Among Goods Producers, Manufacturing jobs and Construction jobs were each down 3,000.

Over the last 12 months, the data showed a decline of 126,700 Wisconsin non-farm jobs. Goods Producers were down 54,900, mostly in Manufacturing, which was down 46,000.  Service sector jobs declined 71,800 over the year, led by Professional & Business Services, which lost 21,300 jobs.

The November survey of Wisconsin households showed 14,500 fewer employed than in October, and 125,300 fewer employed than one year ago. Wisconsin’s civilian labor force was down 9,300 to 3,036,100 in November and down 46,100 from November 2008.