January 2016

Minnesota Workforce Council Meetings

Date: Tuesday, March 15, 2016

Time: 8:00 – 9:30 am

Location: TBD

Date: Tuesday, May 17, 2016

Time: 8:00 – 9:30 am

Location: TBD

December 2015 Unemployment Rate for Minneapolis

The December 2015 unemployment rate remains at 2.7%, resulting in 6,294 residents unemployed and actively seeking employment, a raise of 195 unemployed from November to December.

The federal government’s estimate of the Minneapolis labor force rose in December to 230,313, increasing slightly from November.

The year-over-year trend for December shows both increased labor force participation and lower unemployment from one year ago.

December’s 2.7% unemployment rate in Minneapolis is .9% lower than the State of Minnesota, .2% lower than the seven county metro area, and 2.1% lower than the national average.

STEP-UP Application Deadline: Feb. 5

STEP-UP, the City of Minneapolis jobs program for Minneapolis youth is accepting applications for 2016 summer internship placements. until February 5th, 2016. Interested eligible Minneapolis youth can view and complete the application online here.

STEP-UP Seeks Employers

Businesses, public agencies and nonprofits interested in employing STEP-UP interns in 2016 can find information and apply here.

2015 STEP-UP Final Report

In 2015, STEP-UP prepared nearly 2,000 Minneapolis youth –over 90% youth of color – with the skills needed to be successful in a job. Of those, 1,563 were matched with internships for the summer at one of 230 partner employers. The interns earned a combined $2.6 million in wages, $1.1 of which was paid directly by the private sector.

To see 2015 STEP-UP intern demographics, click on STEP-UP At a Glance. To read the entire report, click here.

Minneapolis Trends Report: Third Quarter 2015

Find information on labor force, jobs and wages, and more here.

Changing the Model: A New Approach to Finding Talent

The City of Minneapolis is working to create new and sustainable pathways to jobs in the city, particularly for those that have not traditionally found employment in government viable.

The result: In 2015, 32 percent of the City of Minneapolis new hires were people of color, an increase of 10 percent since 2013. While the credit for this effort rests with the departments highlighted below, Human Resources and Minneapolis Employment and Training are supporting and guiding this work as well as finding ways to use the new approach throughout the city enterprise.  

• The Police, Public Works and Information Technology departments have taken a fresh look at removing artificial barriers and opening doors to new talent.

• The Police Department changed its Community Service Officer (CSO) entry fitness test to pass/fail on entry and supports CSO officers in adopting a fitness plan that positions them to later pass the police officer fitness test. 

• Public Works created a Service Worker Trainee position that removes the Commercial Driver’s License (CDL) requirement on entry and allows trainees to train for and pass the CDL within six months of hire. 

With support from Minneapolis Employment and Training, the IT department partnered with IT Ready to train and prepare potential new hires and allowed new hires additional time to pass certification exams.

In the next year, Employment and Training and Human Resources will be continuing this work with the 311, 911 and Fire departments. 

Nina Robertson Named STEP-UP Program Manager The City of Minneapolis has hired Nina Robertson to serve as the new STEP-UP Program Manager. Previously to this position, Nina was employed at NAZ (Northside Achievement Zone) as the Expanded Learning Coordinator. Before NAZ, she worked as the Program Coordinator for the YMCA Beacons program, and spent many years working with the Children's Defense Fund Freedom Schools movement. Nina studied Family Social Science at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. Nina is thrilled to bring her experience in youth development to the STEP-UP team.

Seeking Exhibitors for Minneapolis Teen Job and Opportunity Fair

The tenth annual Minneapolis Teen Job and Opportunity Fair is a great no-cost way to connect with promising candidates (14-19 years of age) for job, internship, employment training, and volunteer opportunities at your business or organization.

Join us on Saturday, April 30, 2016 from 11:00 AM to 3:00 PM at the Minneapolis Central Library - 300 Nicollet Mall in downtown Minneapolis.

We expect approximately 700 teens to attend the fair and benefit from speaking with exhibitors about the opportunities they offer. The teens will also be able to attend workshops on how to find and keep a job. 

The Minneapolis Library will have computers for the teens to apply online and space for employers to conduct interviews.

Find more information and exhibitor registration on the City of Minneapolis Community Planning and Economic Development website.

Minneapolis Teen Job and Opportunity Fair sponsors: City of Minneapolis Community Planning and Economic Development, Minneapolis Youth Coordinating Board, AchieveMpls, Lunds and Byerly’s, Minneapolis Workforce Centers, Minneapolis Youth Congress, EMERGE, East Side Neighborhood Services, Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board, Hennepin County, and Hennepin County Library. 

State Gains 9,100 Jobs in December

Minnesota employers added 9,100 jobs in December, according to seasonally adjusted figures released by the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED).

Those figures, combined with November figures, brought job gains for the calendar year in Minnesota to 42,485. Jobs grew 1.5 percent in the state in 2015, compared with a U.S. growth rate of 1.9 percent for the year.

The state unemployment rate fell to a seasonally adjusted 3.5 percent in December from a rate of 3.6 percent in November. The U.S. unemployment rate in December was five percent.

Eight of the state’s 11 major industrial sectors added jobs last month. They are government, leisure and hospitality, education and health services, financial activities, manufacturing, construction, other services, and information.

Sectors that lost jobs were professional and business services, trade, transportation and utilities, and logging and mining.

In the Metropolitan Statistical Areas, the following regions gained jobs in the past 12 months: Minneapolis-St. Paul MSA (up 1.8 percent), Duluth-Superior MSA (up 0.5 percent) and Mankato MSA (up 0.1 percent). The Rochester MSA (down 0.3 percent) and St. Cloud MSA (down 0.1 percent) lost jobs.

Read the whole report.