Minnesota Has Lowest Unemployment Rate In The Nation

TWIN CITIES, MN — Minnesota is home to the lowest unemployment rate in the nation, according to the latest statistics from state and federal officials. In June, the state's unemployment rate dipped to 1.8 percent.

Meanwhile, Minnesota's labor force participation rate ticked up another tenth of a point to 68.5 percent.

"Another month has brought another record-low unemployment rate, as more Minnesotans are finding opportunity in our economy," said Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development Commissioner Steve Grove in a statement.

"The big challenge is a historically tight labor market - we’re still down just over 72,000 people in our labor force since before the pandemic. We’re continuing to grow DEED’s Summer of Jobs campaign to highlight job market opportunities, and to help employers find workers in labor pools they may have previously overlooked."

The national unemployment rate in June stayed at 3.6 percent for the fourth straight month. The national employment-to-population ratio dropped two-tenths of a point to 59.9 percent in June.

Here are the 10 states with the lowest unemployment rate in the nation:

1. Minnesota: 1.8
2. Nebraska: 1.9
3. New Hampshire: 2.0
4. Utah: 2.0
5. Vermont: 2.2
6. South Dakota: 2.3
7. Indiana: 2.4
8. Kansas: 2.4
9. Idaho: 2.5
10. North Dakota: 2.5

Despite historically low unemployment, state economists are warning that in Minnesota and across the nation, wages are not keeping up with the rate of inflation.

In Minnesota, the average hourly wages for all private sector workers were at $34.21 in June, up 5.2 percent from a year ago, officials said. But the inflation index rose 9 percent during the same time period.

Due to record inflation, prices on pantry staples such as meats, poultry, fish, and eggs are up more than 13 percent from this time last year. Gas prices in June were up 65 percent over last year.