Minnesota Unemployment Rate Hits 8.1 Percent In April

Minnesota’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate rose to 8.1% in April according to numbers released Thursday by the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development. The number of unemployed Minnesotans increased by 160,627 to a total of 249,453 from March to April.

Seasonally adjusted payroll employment decreased by 359,800 jobs in April, or 12.2 percent with the private sector down 334,700 jobs, or 13.3 percent, during the month.

“DEED is dedicated to helping Minnesotans who have lost their job or had their hours reduced over the past two months,” said DEED Commissioner Steve Grove in a statement.

“We were one of the first states in the nation to fully implement all three elements of the CARES Act to quickly get benefits out the door to as many people as possible. While the COVID-19 pandemic has challenged our state in many ways, we continue to work closely with our state agency partners and health, business and labor leaders to reopen Minnesota businesses, safely return more people to work, and stem the tide of COVID-19 on our economy.”

Minnesota's labor force numbers fell by 31,594 individuals in April. As a result, Minnesota’s labor force participation rate declined to 68.8 percent in April from 69.1 percent in March, and 70.2 percent in February.

Minnesota’s unemployment rate rose from 2.9 percent (revised down from 3.1 percent) in March to 8.1 percent in April, according to a news release.

The national unemployment rate rose from 4.4 percent in March to 14.7 percent in April.

Minnesota lost 387,894 payroll jobs, down 13.1 percent over the year, while the private sector lost 361,673 jobs, down 14.3 percent.

All sectors lost jobs in April over the year, with the exception of mining, which added 101 jobs. By far the largest relative declines were in leisure and hospitality industry, down 148,593 jobs.