DEED Roundup – Sept. 19, 2016

New Roundup header

  Sept. 19, 2016

In the News

Lt. Gov. Tina Smith

Commissioners Stop in Worthington
Worthington Daily Globe-9/7/16
Lt. Gov. Tina Smith led the first day of the recent Commissioners on Wheels tour, which included a stop in Worthington. The lieutenant governor moderated a panel discussion in Worthington at the the new Prairie Holdings Group facility. "Minnesota is very exceptional because we have been the home of so much invention, so much innovation,” she said. “What is it about Minnesota that makes it that kind of a place, and what do we need to do to keep it going?”

Strong Demand for Workers Statewide
Minnesota Public Radio-9/13/16
The Minnesota industries with the most job openings were health care and social assistance, accommodation and food service, and retail trade, according to DEED's second quarter Job Vacancy Survey. Half of the job openings were in the Twin Cities, where the ratio of unemployed people to job vacancies was 1-to-1. "It continues to be a tight labor market," DEED's Oriane Casale said. "Employers have the burden of filling open positions, while job hunters are in a fairly good position to find a job." 

Serving Our Customers

Drop of water


The Minnesota Water Technology Summit, sponsored by DEED and other partners, will be held Tuesday at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis. The summit, emceed by Chris Farrell, economics commentator for Minnesota Public Radio and author, will focus on water technology in agriculture and the food and beverage industry, national and local perspectives of water, and opportunities to accelerate technology adoption. Learn more here.

Press Releases

State Exports $4.8B in Second Quarter
Minnesota companies exported $4.8B worth of manufactured, agricultural and mining products in the second quarter of 2016, according to DEED figures. Second quarter exports were down 8 percent from the same period a year ago, with the strength of the dollar continuing to impact the competitiveness of U.S. products and foreign demand.  

Minnesota Awarded $2.5M to Improve Employment Opportunities for People With Disabilities
Minnesota was one of six states selected for federal grants totaling $14.9M to improve employment opportunities for adults and youth with disabilities. The USDOL awarded Minnesota $2.5M under the federal Disability Employment Initiative. DEED will manage the grant.  

Employers Cut 1,500 Jobs in August
Employment in Minnesota fell by 1,500 jobs in August, according to seasonally adjusted figures. The state has added 40,629 jobs over the past year, a gain of 1.4 percent. U.S. job growth in the past 12 months was 1.7 percent. The state’s seasonally adjusted employment rate in August climbed 0.1 percent from the previous month to 4 percent.  

State has 97,600 Job Vacancies
Minnesota employers reported 97,600 job vacancies in the second quarter of 2016, an indication that the state’s labor market remains tight, according to figures released by DEED last week. The figures  were slightly behind the same period a year ago, when there 97,997 job vacancies, the second-highest total on record. The record for quarterly vacancies was 115,072 in the second quarter of 2001.

Recent Blog Posts

U.S. map with pullout of Minnesota

It’s always been a breeze for site selectors and businesses to see how Minnesota compares with other states using the Compare Minnesota tool. Now the tool is even more searchable and the information in key indicators more timely, thanks to a recent makeover. Learn more here.