Minnesota employers cut 8,100 jobs in October

Minnesota employers cut 8,100 jobs statewide in October, by far the worst monthly job report of the year.

A massive positive revision to the September numbers helped offset the loss, but the state’s employment and economic development agency, DEED, reported major losses in administrative support and lower-paid business services jobs, which shed 4,800 jobs. State government lost 1,900 jobs, mostly in education, and durable goods manufacturing lost 800 jobs.

“Employment data for October does certainly reinforce the concerns we’ve expressed here, that the recovery, while it does continue, is a fragile one,” said Steve Hine, DEED’s labor market economist. “We’ll be paying a great deal of attention to Congress as they grapple with the so-called fiscal cliff.”

Hine said the weakness in business-to-business service jobs is a bad sign for the economy, even though many of the positions are on the low end of the pay spectrum and a large portion of them are temporary positions.

 “You could see it as a leading indicator,” he said. Read more >>