More Growth Expected As Minnesota Adds 9,100 Jobs In December

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Minnesota employers added 9,100 jobs in December, boosting the state's job gains for 2015 to over 42,000.

The Department of Employment and Economic Development reported Thursday that the state's unemployment rate fell to a seasonally adjusted 3.5 percent in December from a revised rate of 3.6 percent in November. That's better than the nationwide unemployment rate in December of 5 percent.

DEED Commissioner Katie Clark Sieben says nearly all signs point to continued job growth in Minnesota in 2016.

Most of the state's major industrial sectors added jobs last month, led by government with 4,300 new jobs, and leisure and hospitality, which gained 2,800 jobs.

Sectors that lost jobs included professional and business services, down 3,200; trade, transportation and utilities, down 2,000; and logging and mining, down 500.