Shifting Workforce Trends Across Minnesota
This month's blog posts show a shifting labor market. Central Minnesota job counselors offer new insights into the job seeker experience, while the Twin Cities Metro highlights the concentration of federal jobs in the region. Northeast continues a slow post-pandemic recovery with shifting industry growth, and Northwest is powered by strong construction expansion. Southeast recognizes the growing contributions of its small Native American community, while Southwest sees changing workforce age demographics with rising wages across all age groups. For more information, please reach out to your regional analyst.
A new Job Seeker Experience survey conducted by DEED, in partnership with workforce development organizations across Minnesota, is helping fill a gap in labor market information by sharing their experience of assisting people in finding jobs. Forty-two job counselors who help job seekers find employment in Central Minnesota from DEED, Central Minnesota Jobs and Training, Career Solutions and other organizations shared their insights in the most recent survey, which was completed in July. More than 300 responses were received statewide.
According to Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW) data, the state of Minnesota had just over 33,500 federal government jobs in 2024. As such, just over 1% of the state's total job count is employed by the federal government. To put this into some perspective, about 3% of the state's total employment is state government, about 9% is local government and the remaining 87% is private sector. Just about three-in-five (59.1%) of the state's federal government jobs are located in the Seven-County Twin Cities Metro Area.
From 2022 to 2024, Northeast Minnesota added nearly 4,000 jobs, growing total employment by 2.9%. Much of this could still be deemed recovery from the impacts of the COVID pandemic, yet there are also trends that point to other factors at play. From 2020 to 2021, the rate of employment growth in the region was 1.9%. That pace fell to 1.5% for each of the two following years, before slowing again slightly to 1.4% from 2023 to 2024. With the slowing growth also came some changes in which industries were adding jobs.
Construction added the most jobs and grew the fastest of any industry sector in Northwest Minnesota from 2019 to 2024. This growth engine fuels the entire regional economy. Construction demands services and supplies from multiple industries, including architectural and engineering services, equipment rental and repair, and safety and security. Building materials, tools and equipment parts also flow through regional supply chains. Additionally, workers spent a substantial portion of the nearly $966 million in total wages paid in 2024 within the region.
November marks American Indian and Alaska Native Heritage Month, a time to recognize the rich cultural heritage and contributions of Indigenous peoples across the nation. In Southeast Minnesota, this celebration takes on special significance for the approximately 1,800 Native American residents. However, representing just 0.3% of the region's residents, Southeast has the state's smallest share as of 2023. Though their numbers are comparatively small, Southeast Minnesota's American Indian and Alaska Native population has been steadily growing over the past decade.
According to data from DEED's Quarterly Employment Demographics program, Southwest Minnesota's workforce in 2024 is older, more balanced by gender, and better paid than it was a decade ago. Several shifts stand out, but some of the most notable include the growing importance of both young and old workers in the region, the stability of workers in their prime working years, rising wages across all age groups, and bigger wage gains for females.
More Job Seekers are Attending Job Fairs in Many Parts of Minnesota
The numbers of job seekers who attend job fairs can provide an insight into the current job search experience of people looking for work. Job fair attendance changes over time can give a glimpse of larger labor market trends. Read about job fair attendance trends in various parts of Minnesota.
Do you host regular job fairs or other hiring events? Are more or fewer job seekers participating in job fairs or other hiring events than six months ago or a year ago? Please share your perspectives with [email protected].
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