State adds jobs, unemployment rate down slightly

ST. PAUL — Minnesota gained jobs for the second consecutive month in June, with employers adding 3,400 positions on top of the 2,500 jobs that were created in May, according to figures released last week by the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development.

Those increases came after Minnesota employers trimmed 10,100 jobs in April. However, overall the state has added 1,900 jobs through the first half of the year, compared with a U.S. loss of 438,000 jobs during that period.

Minnesota’s unemployment rate also slipped from 5.4 percent in May to 5.3 percent last month. The state’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate is lower than the overall U.S. rate of 5.5 percent.

Unemployment rates for McLeod County and three other counties that make up Economic Development Region 6E were not available. Unemployment in the region stood at 5.4 percent in May, with McLeod County’s rate climbing from 5.6 percent in April to 5.9 percent in May.

For more about Minnesota’s jobs situation, read the Leader’s July 22 print edition.

(Terry Davis is a Hutchinson Leader staff writer. E-mail him at davis@hutchinsonleader.com.)