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Bill Catlin
St. Paul, Minn.

Despite job cuts, Minn. unemployment rate holds at 4.5 percent in July

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Minnesota's unemployment rate held steady in July at 4.5 percent, though the state lost 4,200 jobs during the month.

The number of people reporting they were paid for work last month fell, but so did the number of people in the workforce, which kept the jobless rate constant, data released Thursday by the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development show.

The report also slashed by 3,600 the previous estimate of 8,500 job gains in June.

State officials say Minnesota's economic indicators remain positive and other employment data continue to look strong. Data show state job growth of 2.5 percent over the year ending in July, well above the U.S. pace of 1.9 percent for the same period. Minnesota's unemployment rate remains well below the national figure of 6.2 percent.

Even as they rolled out the numbers, DEED officials questioned the validity of the seasonally adjusted payroll employment numbers compiled by the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics.

"Recent divergences due to seasonal adjustment lessen confidence that Minnesota's seasonally adjusted estimates are accurately reflecting recent trends in job growth," the department said in a statement. "Every year, July has a drop in the number of jobs on a seasonally unadjusted basis."

"July's employment change appears disappointing; however, this is the smallest percentage decline in jobs for a July since 1999," DEED Commissioner Katie Clark Sieben said.