Arrowhead Unemployment Rate Decreases for a 5th Consecutive Month
Continued job growth in Northeast Minnesota has led to a decrease in the regional unemployment rate to 6.7% – the 5th consecutive month of declining unemployment across the Arrowhead region. Down from 7.1%, the decreased rate is due in part to private sector job growth in the Duluth-Superior MSA which grew by 2,023 jobs over the course of the previous month according to the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development’s Current Employment Statistics. While the downward trend is a good thing, the unemployment rate in Northeast Minnesota is still the highest in the state – significantly higher than the statewide unemployment rate of 4.9%.
The decreasing rate indicates increasing confidence in the economy as more individuals who had given up the job search are returning to the labor market and successfully finding employment. From April to May, labor force participation increased from 168,133 to 168,958. This is in large part to a marked increase in seasonal workers arriving to support the advent of the tourist season, and is in line with historical employment cycles for the region. While the unemployment rate at this time last year was lower (6.4%), this is largely due to the late arrival of spring in the Northland this year. If the Northland hadn’t received the lousy weather it did in May and early June, the decrease in unemployment could have been greater.
Northeast Minnesota unemployment numbers are still relatively high in part because of high unemployment in Koochiching County. With an unemployment rate of 9%, Koochiching County is second only to Clearwater County (10.7%) for the highest in the state. Unfortunately, Koochiching County’s employment woes are bound to get worse as layoffs at the Boise Inc. Paper Mill in International Falls take effect. Last month Boise announced plans to shutter two of its plants, eliminating 265 jobs in the process.
While the numbers are trending in the right direction, there is still a ways to go to get the regional economy back to a healthy level of unemployment. Upticks in total employment in the manufacturing, mining, and construction sectors will no doubt help, but we still need people to fill the positions being created.
Arrowhead Economics 