Surprise Drop in Unemployment Rate

The state unemployment rate fell 4-tenths of a percent in October.

Unemployment dropped to 6.8 percent. The decline caught most analysts by surprise. Usually, when the national rate rises, as it did, so does the state’s.

Economist Annette Nielsen with the labor market information bureau says the job growth is real. The rate is not due to lots of people dropping out of the labor force. But Nielsen takes a cautious view.

Nielsen: "I would like to see a couple of months before I would definitely say this is what’s going on."

Private sector jobs held even. Losses in one area were offset by gains in others.

The real growth driver was state and local government jobs which would include schools. Those sectors added 2200 jobs, almost the entire net increase for the state.

See the official release here.

See the sector by sector breakdown here.