Minnesota regains all jobs lost in recession

Minnesota has regained all the jobs it lost during the Great Recession, state officials said Thursday.

Employers added 12,200 jobs to their payrolls in August. Minnesota now has 2,786,000 jobs, topping the previous peak in February 2008 by 5,100 positions.

"August's employment numbers mark a major milestone in the recovery of Minnesota's economy," Department of Employment and Economic Development commissioner Katie Clark Sieben said in a statement. "We've now recovered all of the jobs lost during the recession, which is one of many positive indicators pointing to continued economic growth."

Minnesota's economy has added 63,100 jobs over the past year, a 2.3 percent growth rate that exceeds the national rate of 1.7 percent, the department said.

The state jobless rate slipped to 5.1 percent in August, from 5.2 percent in July. The August rate is the lowest level since April 2008 and well below the U.S. unemployment rate of 7.3 percent.

Most industrial sectors gained jobs last month: trade, transportation and utilities (+6,000), education and health care (+5,500), other services (+2,300), government (+1,900), construction (+1,100), leisure and hospitality (+700), and financial activities (+100). Logging and mining were flat.

Manufacturing lost 3,400 jobs, followed by professional and business services (-1,100) and information (-900).

Manufacturing was the only sector to lose jobs over the past year (down 5,100).