Minnesota Rebuilds Employment to Pre-Recession Level

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) - Minnesota has rebuilt the employment level it saw prior to the last recession and then some.

A report Thursday from the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development shows 12,200 jobs were gained in August. That means Minnesota has recouped the more than 150,000 jobs that were shed in the Great Recession toward the end of the last decade.

Minnesota has 5,100 more jobs in its economy than it had in February 2008. The recession hit soon after.

The same employment report shows the state's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for the month was 5.1 percent, which is better than the national average. It is Minnesota's lowest jobless rate since April 2008.

Agency Commissioner Katie Clark Sieben calls the report "a major milestone in the recovery of Minnesota's economy."