Minnesota added 6,600 jobs in May and the state’s labor force grew by 2,236 people, according to data released Friday from the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development.

The state’s unemployment rate increased one-tenth of a percentage point to 3.3%, compared with 4.2% nationally. The labor force participation rate was flat at 68.2% from April, compared to 62.4% nationally. This measures the number of people working or actively seeking work as a percentage of the population. Minnesota has added people to labor force 10 out of the last 12 months, DEED said.

“May was another good month for Minnesota’s job market, with employment growth much stronger than the nation as a whole,” said DEED Commissioner Matt Varilek in a news release.

Over the month, six supersectors added jobs: Leisure & Hospitality, up 2,100 jobs; Education & Health Services, 3,800 jobs, and Trade, Transportation & Utilities, 2,500 jobs. Losing jobs were Mining & Logging, down 200 jobs; Construction, down 1,100, and the Other Services supersector, down 1,000 jobs.

Government employment was up 400 jobs over the month, but those gains were confined to state and local hiring. Overall, federal employers in Minnesota shed 400 jobs.

Of alternative measures of unemployment, the broadest, called the U-6, rose to 7% in May, from 6.8% in April and 5.4% a year ago, DEED said. This measure factors in people who have voluntarily left the labor force, such as stay-at-home parents, discouraged workers who have stopped seeking jobs, and part-time or otherwise marginally employed workers.

— Pioneer Press