Minnesota Employers Add 15,600 Jobs in April in Hiring Surge

ST. PAUL -- Minnesota employers added 15,600 jobs in April, the state's biggest one-month job gain since September of 2013.

However, the state Department of Employment and Economic Development said Thursday, the state's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate held steady in April at 3.8 percent. The U.S. unemployment rate in April was 5 percent.

DEED Commissioner Shawntera Hardy says April's surge in hiring points to continued growth in Minnesota's economy. Despite a tighter labor market, she says, employers are finding workers to fill their payrolls.

Professional and business services led all sectors in April with 6,700 new jobs. The information and government sectors lost jobs in April.

DEED says job growth in Minnesota is up 1.1 percent from a year ago, compared with a 1.9 percent growth rate nationally.