What Students, Employers, and Workers Across Minnesota Are Experiencing Right Now
This issue takes a quick tour of Minnesota’s regions, sharing fresh insights on student plans, employer needs, job market trends, education pathways, and how work is changing across the state. For more information, please reach out to your regional analyst.
Understanding where young people see their future is critical for workforce and community planning. A recent student survey across Central Minnesota – covering Benton, Chisago, Isanti, Kanabec, Kandiyohi, McLeod, Meeker, Mille Lacs, Pine, Renville, Sherburne, Stearns and Wright counties – offers new insight into how students are thinking about life after graduation. As additional schools participate, this picture will continue to sharpen. Even at this early stage, however, clear patterns are emerging.
When visiting the Labor Market Information Office website, you'll discover about two dozen distinct data tools. About half of these tools have some aspects of educational data embedded in them. Through these tools, users can begin to understand the role of education in countless career pathways and outcomes. For example, users of DEED's Occupations in Demand tool can learn about what occupations are in the most demand in the Twin Cities Metro Area and what type of education those occupations typically require for entry. Users of DEED's Career Pathways tool can view this same type of information while additionally learning what career clusters they are in. Meanwhile, users of Quarterly Workforce Indicators can look at the changing educational attainment trends of jobholders by industry
With just over 141,300 jobs reported in the third quarter of 2025, data shows that Northeast Minnesota lost 1,140 jobs over the year, a decline of -0.8%. At the same time, the number of employer establishments in the region fell by just under 200, indicating that employment growth that marked the previous four years has – at least momentarily – stalled out. Over-the-year employment change slipped into negative territory beginning with first quarter 2025 and has stayed there for the subsequent two quarters, even accelerating slightly.
New survey results from workforce professionals and statistics from DEED's Labor Market Information Office paint a nuanced picture: The job market is loosening, but is that a good thing? How hard is it to find a job in Northwest Minnesota right now? To answer that question, we can look at two complementary sources: insights from the workforce professionals who work directly with job seekers, and the "hard" labor market data from DEED.
What's on the minds of Southeast Minnesota employers as we head into 2026? A September 2025 survey of workforce and economic development professionals who work directly with regional businesses sheds light on what employers are experiencing. These professionals have their fingers on the pulse of the region's economy and labor market through regular conversations with employers across industries. The survey results offer a snapshot of what Southeast Minnesota employers are experiencing right now.
Remote work is one of the most visible ways the labor market has changed since the pandemic. Statewide, working from home went from a niche arrangement to a mainstream option for many Minnesotans. In Southwest Minnesota, remote work also increased, but not nearly to the same degree. The difference isn't about willingness to adapt; it's about how the region's economy is built. Using data from the newly released American Community Survey (ACS) estimates, we can see both the shift and the limits of that change.
SPRING 2026 LMI TRAINING SESSIONS
Our regional analysis team has scheduled a series of training sessions for Spring 2026, running from March through June and covering topics ranging from the shifting labor market to career exploration tools to specific industry profiles. All of these sessions are virtual, so feel free to sign up for whatever session works best with your schedule and interests!
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