Minnesota’s unemployment rate falls to record-low 2.2%

But 85,000 workers are still missing from the state’s labor pool.

Unemployment data were released this week for April. State officials were touting the lowest headline number for unemployment since the current data series began in 1976. April’s figure fell to 2.2 percent, down from 2.5 percent in March.

That’s still not the lowest rate in the nation. For April, Nebraska and Utah both reported rates of 1.9 percent and Indiana also reported a rate of 2.2 percent.

The good news is that the drop in unemployment was entirely due to people finding jobs last month. The number of unemployed persons fell, and the labor force participation rate rose in April, from 68.1 to 68.3 percent.

Still, that’s well below the 71 percent participation level seen in early 2020 and the record level of over 75 percent seen from late 1999 until 2002.

That means the not-so-good news is that is that 85,000 workers are still missing from the state’s labor pool. In early 2020 (pre-pandemic), the number of Minnesotans in the labor force topped out at 3,165,000. The current figure is 3,080,000.

Pretty much anyone who wants a job can get one. The problem is too few people want jobs.