Minnesota Unemployment Holds Steady at 5.6 Percent

ST. PAUL  (AP) - Minnesota's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for May held steady at 5.6 percent.

That's down 1 percentage point from 6.6 percent in April of 2011. Those figures compare with a national unemployment rate of 8.2 percent last month and 9 percent last May.

The Department of Employment and Economic Development says Minnesota's labor force participation rate was 71.1 percent in May, well above the national rate of 63.6 percent.

Minnesota had a net gain of 22,600 jobs since May 2011. Private employers in Minnesota added 26,080 jobs over the year, a gain of 1.1 percent compared with 1.8 percent nationally.

Growth leaders over the past year include the education and health services, professional and business services, manufacturing, and construction sectors. Losses were concentrated in the leisure and hospitality sector and government.

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