2001 jobless claims were the worst in 10 years
Deborah Caulfield Rybak
Star Tribune
Published Jan 10 2002
The only nice thing to be said about 2001, in terms of
Minnesota's job market, is that it's over.
Initial unemployment claims filed by Minnesotans shot up 50.2
percent in 2001, the state Department of Economic Security
reported on Wednesday. Last year, 311,938 people filed new
unemployment claims, up from 207,638 in 2000. The
comparison looks even worse against 1999 -- claims were up
almost 70 percent compared to that year, when 193,928 were
recorded.
"It wasn't a good year for the job market or job seekers. This is
the biggest annual increase in initial unemployment claims we
have had since the 1990-1991 recession," said Jay Mousa,
research director for the department. "It reflects the magnitude
of the deterioration in our job market."
However, there were indications that the brakes on the state's
employment decline may be starting to engage. In September,
initial claims filed were up 78 percent over September 2000. By
October, in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks, claims
skyrocketed 91.3 percent over October 2000. By December, the
increase over the year-ago month was a relatively tame 28.1
percent.
Economists were encouraged, though cautiously so.
"It is good news any time you have fewer people on
unemployment," state economist Tom Stinson said. "However
it doesn't necessarily signal that the recession is bottoming out
or that things are turning up. We are still adding people to the
unemployment lines."
Added Mousa, "The slide is slowing, but we're not out of the
woods yet."
Stinson said December's numbers were again affected by the
unseasonably warm weather in Minnesota during the past two
months. "Plus, last year we had an especially cold Christmas, so
the numbers were higher than normal."
December's numbers continued to reflect substantial layoffs in
the transportation and services sectors, both deeply affected by
the events of Sept. 11. In transportation, initial claims rose 114
percent over December 2000; in services the number of
individuals filing first-time claims rose to 6,459 from 3,900 in
December 2000, a 65 percent increase.
The year was particularly hard on highly educated,
white-collar professionals. The number of college graduates
filing initial unemployment claims rose 91 percent over 2000.
Those with some college saw their numbers rise by 63 percent
over 2000. By comparison, high school graduates' claims rose
38.6 percent.
Not surprisingly, the Twin Cities, with its large jobs base, also
took the biggest hit on layoffs statewide. Initial unemployment
claims in the Twin Cities area rose 75 percent in 2001 over
2000; the next highest rate was in the Arrowhead region, which
saw claims rise 43.5 percent over 2000.
-- Deborah Caulfield Rybak is at dcrybak@startribune.com .
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