Drivers of Growth
This month's Local Look blogs from DEED's Labor Market Information office explore trends in female labor force participation and employment across several regions, the importance of the Transportation industry in Central Minnesota, and employment projections in Southeast.
March is Women's History Month, where the study, observance, and celebration of the vital role of women in American history is commemorated and encouraged. To a similar end, we are happy to study, observe, and celebrate the vital role of women in the Twin Cities Metro Area's labor market. With DEED's Quarterly Employment Demographics (QED) tool, we can analyze job distribution statistics, median hourly wages, and median hours worked by gender (and by age). This data can be broken down further by geography and industry. This data reveals a near-even split of female and male jobholders in the Twin Cities metro area. A quick look at the major industry sectors, however, reveals several stark differences in gender distribution.
The Transportation industry has operated behind the scenes of our economy for decades to ensure goods and services are delivered and completed. But recently their importance and our reliance on the Transportation industry for all facets of our life has been brought to light in the wake of product shortages and long lead times during the pandemic.
Women hold about half the jobs in Northeast Minnesota. Some sectors, such as Health Care & Social Assistance, Finance & Insurance, and Educational Services have high shares of female employment. Each of the six sectors that employ more women than men are service-oriented, whereas goods-producing sectors such as Mining, Construction, and Transportation & Warehousing have much lower shares of female workers.
Prior to the pandemic, there were more than 136,000 female workers in the labor force in Northwest Minnesota, accounting for over 47% of the total workforce in the region. Even though their labor force participation rates were lower than for males, the number of female workers had been increasing over time as the region's population continued to increase. While we do not have details at the regional level yet, U.S. and statewide data show that labor force participation rates for both males and females have fallen since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, but most notably for women.
The tight labor market continues to confound Southeast Minnesota employers looking to fill open positions. The region's available labor force dropped by over 5,000 workers over the past 2 years, from December 2019 to December 2021, ending the year at 283,570 workers. More new workers will be needed as projections from before the pandemic period suggest that employers in the region are going to continue adding jobs in the future, according to DEED's Employment Outlook data.
The reasons for workforce challenges in the region are varied, but include difficulties with child care, elder care, and other family responsibilities; more layoffs and a slower initial recovery from pandemic-related losses in industries that have more female workers – such as Health Care & Social Assistance, Accommodation & Food Services, Other Services, Educational Services, and Arts, Entertainment & Recreation – and faster than expected retirements among the older population.
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