Detailing Workforce Demographics
Our regional analysts have put together a new set of blogs for March focusing on various economic trends, including employment trends for females in the Twin Cities, Central, and Northwest; generational shifts in Southwest, the importance of workers with disabilities in Southeast, and distinguishing industries in the Northeast. For more information, please reach out to your local Regional Analyst!
Using data from the U.S. Census Bureau's Quarterly Workforce Indicators (QWI) program, we can get an idea of how total employment has shifted from pre-COVID-19 levels by analyzing the change between the second quarters of 2019 and 2022. During that period, total jobs held by female workers in the Metro Area declined by 3.4%, compared to a 3.9% drop for men. This is equivalent to approximately 30,940 jobs lost for females.
Central Minnesota has a very active labor force, with both men and women participating at higher rates than statewide. In 2021, 72.9% of men and 66.2% of women aged 16 years and over in the region were actively participating in the labor force, which was above the state rate at 72.7% and 65.6%, respectively.
When you think of distinguishing industries in Northeast Minnesota you probably aren't thinking of Cut & Sew Apparel Manufacturing or Other Textile Product Mills. This is perhaps fair, but maybe you should! Both industries are among the top ten most concentrated industry groups in the region. More well known, Metal Ore Mining, Pulp, Paper & Paperboard Manufacturing, Logging, and Pipeline Transportation are industries that are strongly associated with the economic history of the region, and are the only four that are more concentrated than Cut & Sew Apparel Manufacturing as of 2021.
By third quarter 2022, Northwest was back to 99.4% of its employment level in third quarter 2019, while Minnesota was at 98.7%. The Northwest region could have regained all the jobs had there been enough workers in the labor market to fill open positions, but there are workforce shortages in all areas of the state. So which groups have entered, returned, or exited Northwest's workforce?
Southeast Minnesota is home to about 52,400 people with a disability, or about 10.3% of the total population. The labor force participation rate for people with disabilities has increased within the past year, but continues to lag. For example, the labor force participation rate in 2021 for people between 18 and 64 years with a disability was 55.7%, compared to 86.9% of people with no disability. However, unemployment rates were much higher for those with disabilities – the rate for workers from 18 to 64 with disabilities was 9.4%, compared to 3.1% for those without. Closing the gap on both of those rates would help fill a lot of open jobs.
Home to just under 400,000 people, there are now seven generations living together in the 23 counties of Southwest Minnesota. After decades of domination, the Baby Boomers have been surpassed by Generation Z as the largest cohort, with just over 89,000 people, compared to 86,000 Baby Boomers. Millennials and Generation X both have about 73,000 people. The youngest age group, now titled Generation Alpha, is closing in on 45,000 people, while the two oldest generations – Silent and Greatest – now have just over 31,500 people.
Please reach out to your regional analyst if you or your staff would be interested in having a customized LMI training session. We would be happy to accommodate your training requests, either on LMI Data Tools or local economic conditions!
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