Mower’s jobless rate at 4.1 pct
Published 10:31 am Wednesday, July 23, 2014
Local unemployment rates ticked up last month, but dropped from June of last year.
Mower’s unemployment rate climbed from 3.8 percent in May to 4.1 percent in June, with 877 people listed as unemployed compared to 820 in May, according to data released this week by the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED). However, that was lower than June of 2013, when Mower’s unemployment was 4.7 percent and 1,020 people were listed as unemployed.
However, Mower County’s labor force dropped from 21,632 last June to 21,466 this year, according to DEED.
Mower’s June jobless rate was a bit below Minnesota’s rate of 4.5 percent, which was down about a half-point from a year ago. That’s lower than the national rate for June of 6.1 percent. Steele County’s unemployment rate in June was 4.2 percent, Freeborn’s was 4.5 percent and Olmsted’s was 3.9 percent.
Austin’s jobless rate was 4.4 percent in june, up from 4.1 percent in May, but down from 5.2 percent last year. Albert Lea posted a jobless rate of 5 percent in June, up from 4.8 in May. Albert Lea’s rate in June 2013 was 6 percent. In June 2012 it was 6.5, and in June 2011 it was 7.2.
State development officials said Minnesota gained 8,500 jobs in June, making a net gain of 10,700 this year. The state’s overall job growth rate in the past 12 months is on par with the national average of about 2 percent.
Economic Development Commissioner Katie Clark Sieben said the jobless state rate hasn’t been this low since February 2007. Sieben said jobless benefits claims dropped to their lowest level in almost 14 years.
Mower County unemployment
Labor force Jobless Rate
June 2014 21,466 4.1
May 2014 21,342 3.8
April 2014 21,280 4.0
March 2014 21,365 4.7
February 2014 21,161 4.9
January 2014 21,155 4.8
June 2013 21,632 4.7
—The Associated Press contributed to this report.
