Minnesota Unemployment Continues to Inch Down

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) - Minnesota's unemployment rate is continuing its downward trend.

The Department of Employment and Economic Security announced Thursday that the state had a 5.2 percent jobless rate in June. That's a tenth of a percent lower from where it was in May.

The department says Minnesota employers added 400 jobs in June. That was thanks to a 2,500-job increase in the private sector, which was offset by a 2,100-job loss in government employment.

The state has added 54,100 jobs in the last year, for a growth rate of 2 percent. The U.S. growth rate during that time was 1.7 percent.

Minnesota's economy has consistently outperformed that of the U.S., which in May had a 7.6 percent unemployment rate. Minnesota has now regained 95 percent of the jobs lost during the recession.