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Minnesota gained 9,500 jobs from October to November, the fifth straight month of growth, the largest increase since January and well higher than the national rate, according to numbers released today by the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED).

Minnesota jobs grew 0.3% on a seasonally adjusted basis last month, outpacing the nation as whole (up 0.1%).  Minnesota’s unemployment rate ticked down one-tenth of a percentage point to 3.1% in November, compared to 3.7% nationally. Over the last three months, jobs in Minnesota grew by 17,300, or 0.6% – far higher the national rate for that timeframe (up 0.2%).

“Minnesota continues to see sustained and notable job growth and we’re consistently adding jobs at a faster rate than the national average, which is phenomenal news for workers,” said DEED Commissioner Matt Varilek. “We are confident that current and soon-to-be-launched efforts by DEED and our workforce development partners to connect people with employment and to help connect employers with often overlooked labor pools will bring more people into the labor force in 2024.”

Minnesota’s labor force decreased by 7,433 people over the month, bumping the labor force participation rate down two-tenths of a percentage point to 68.3%, compared to 62.8% nationally.

Over the month, eight of 11 supersectors gained jobs on a seasonally adjusted basis in Minnesota. Top gainers were:

• Trade, Transportation & Utilities, up 3,300 jobs
• Education & Health Services, up 2,700 jobs
• Government, up 1,100 jobs
• Manufacturing, up 1,000 jobs

Construction posted growth of 300 jobs over the month, meaning that supersector has posted job growth in seven of the past eight months.

Over the year, Minnesota has gained 47,829 jobs, up 1.6% with all but four supersectors posting annual job growth. Overall U.S. employment grew 1.8% over the year and all supersectors grew nationally except Information. Some highlights in Minnesota:

• Construction gained 7,094 jobs, up 5.3% compared to 2.6% nationally. The strongest growth continued to be in Heavy and Civil Engineering Construction (13.3%), Building Equipment Contractors (5.5%), and Specialty Trade Contractors (5.1%).
• Trade, Transportation, & Utilities gained 15,040 jobs, up 2.8% compared to 0.3% nationally.
• Education & Health Services gained 26,939 jobs, up 4.8%, compared to the national rate of 4.2%. This is driven by growth in the Health Care & Social Assistance sector (5.6%) despite a slight decrease in Educational Services (-0.3%).

Minnesota’s average hourly wage is $36.29 in November. Over the year, average hourly earnings increased 3.4%, and they are up 13.2% over three years. Nationally, average hourly wage is $33.99, up 4.0% over the year and 14.2% over three years. The CPI inflation index rose 3.1% over the year and 18.0% over three years.

“Minnesota’s average hourly wage continues to be higher than the national average, and wage growth has generally kept up with inflation over the last six months,” said DEED’s Labor Market Information Director Angelina Nguyễn.