MANKATO — The Mankato area continued to lap other areas of the state in job numbers in October, while Minnesota kept outpacing the national average.
Newly released data from the Department of Employment and Economic Development, or DEED, showed the Mankato-North Mankato Metropolitan Statistical Area had a 6.5% jump in jobs in October compared to the prior year.
The area, including all of Blue Earth and Nicollet counties, finished well above the Rochester, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Duluth, St. Cloud metro areas in job growth.
Year-over-year October job growth by region was as follows:
• Mankato-North Mankato: 6.5%
• Rochester: 3.5%
• Minneapolis-St. Paul: 1.3%
• Duluth: 0.6%
• St. Cloud: 0.3%
Mankato-North Mankato’s biggest employment growth sector was in government, a 12.5% year-over-year increase. Service jobs rose by 6.6%, while manufacturing rose by 6.3%. The governmental increase was slightly below September’s 13.3% rise, but service and manufacturing job growth rose in October compared to September.
The total number of nonfarm jobs in the area reached 62,149, according to DEED data. It was a 3,800 increase from October 2022.
Minnesota overall had a 1.4% increase in year-over-year job growth, with the state’s estimated seasonally adjusted job total exceeding 3 million for the first time in its history. The total number of jobs in the state, meanwhile, was the highest on record in October.
During a media briefing Thursday, DEED labor market information office director Angelina Nguyễn said the milestones signal strong economic growth after the seasonally adjusted figure had been hovering around 2.9 million jobs.
“It means our economy has recovered fully from the pandemic and it continues to grow,” she said.
The state’s unemployment did rise by one-tenth of a percent in October but remained below the 3.9% national rate. Notable sectors with job gains from September to October were education and health services at 3,200 more jobs, professional and business services at 1,900 jobs, and leisure and hospitality at 1,600 jobs.
DEED Deputy Commissioner Kevin McKinnon noted there continue to be “many employment opportunities in Minnesota” even as labor force growth paused for the first time in eight months.
“We continue to work hard to make sure people know about all the job openings throughout the state and across industries,” he said.