MANKATO — Joblessness in Mankato is less of a problem than most places in Minnesota and across the United States as a whole.
But a strong jobs report for Mankato-North Mankato in August was less favorable when the September numbers were released by the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development last week.
“Over the year, employers in Mankato lost 318 jobs, or 0.5%. This was a steep decline from August’s 3.7% positive growth,” DEED reported. “The decline was driven by employment among service providers, which shed 819 jobs or 1.7%, while goods producers added 501 jobs or 5%. Private sector employers added 37 jobs (0.1%) while public sector employers lost 355 jobs, or 3.6%.”
Compared to other metropolitan areas that are at least partly within Minnesota, the Mankato-North Mankato metro area was in the mediocre middle for job creation. LaCrosse saw 1.7% growth in jobs compared to September of 2025, and both the Twin Cities metro area and Grand Forks-East Grand Forks had a 1.1% rise in employment. The number of jobs in Fargo-Moorhead rose .8%.
Mankato’s drop was exceeded in Rochester, which saw the number of jobs fall .6%, in Duluth-Superior (down .9%) and in St. Cloud (down 1%).
In a comparison of overall unemployment rates, Mankato fared better. The local jobless rate was at 3.9% in September on a non-seasonally-adjusted basis, compared to 4% across the United States and 4.4% in Minnesota. The jobless rate is higher than at the same time last year in all three categories. In September 2025, Mankato’s unemployment rate was 2.9%, the statewide rate was 3.5% and the national rate was 3.5%.
The Mankato-North Mankato metro area, which includes all of Blue Earth and Nicollet counties, continues to be a relatively good spot to find a job. Measured against the other metro areas entirely or primarily within Minnesota, only Rochester’s 3.7% unemployment rate in September was lower than Mankato’s. The others ranged from St. Cloud’s 4.2% to Duluth-Superior’s 4.6%.
And the local jobless rate was better than almost all of the 17 micropolitan statistical areas across Minnesota. New Ulm and Alexandria bested Mankato with a 3.7% unemployment rate in September, and Winona and Marshall matched Mankato’s 3.9%.
All of the other smaller statistical areas had unemployment rates of 4% or higher, topped by Grand Rapids’ 5.5%.
Minnesota’s other smaller cities had the following jobless rates last month: Hutchinson, 4%; Austin and Fairmont, both 4.1%; Fergus Falls, 4.2%; Albert Lea, Faribault-Northfield, Red Wing, Worthington and Willmar, all 4.3%; Brainerd, 4.6%; Bemidji, 4.8%; and Owatonna, 5.1%.
Fairmont appears destined to fall lower on the list by the end of the year. DEED reported Tuesday afternoon that 3M had notified the agency of the “permanent layoff of approximately 62 employees” at the company’s Fairmont factory, as required by the Federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act.
“According to the WARN notice, employee layoffs are expected to begin on December 18, 2026, and continue through December 31, 2026, the facility’s scheduled closure date,” DEED reported.
The Fairmont Sentinel reported in January that workers had been notified of 3M’s plans to close the 150,000-square-foot factory, which had been operating in the Martin County city since 1946. Approximately 80 jobs will be lost by the time operations shut down completely early in 2027, according to the newspaper.
The Maplewood-headquartered company informed customers in April that changes were coming to where a pair of its Velcro-like fastener products would be manufactured.
“We anticipate that supply of 3M Dual Lock products currently manufactured at the Fairmont plant will transition to 3M’s Knoxville, Iowa, manufacturing facility …,” the company reported. “We anticipate that supply of 3M Hook & Loop products currently manufactured at our Fairmont plant will transition to 3M’s Aberdeen, South Dakota manufacturing facility … . We anticipate a smooth transition starting in the fourth quarter of 2026.”