Minnesota Unemployment Rate Rises Slightly to 3.9 Percent

ST. PAUL (AP) - Minnesota's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate has been bumped up to 3.9 percent even as 2,900 jobs were added.

The June figure was the 12th consecutive month below 4 percent. The Department of Employment and Economic Development released the statistics Thursday.

Even with the slight uptick, Minnesota's rate is still better than the national average, which was 5.3 percent last month.

Roughly 118,000 people in Minnesota are considered unemployed.

Job gains were strongest in construction, education and health care sectors. Losses were seen in several sectors tracked by the state, including manufacturing and government.

Over the past year, 41,600 jobs were added. That's a growth rate of 1.5 percent. The national average was 2.1 percent.

Department researcher Steve Hine says it has been six years since the Great Recession ended.