A state report this morning says Minnesota added 15,500 jobs in January, lowering the unemployment rate to 5.6 percent, 0.1 percent lower than last month.
The national unemployment rate is 8.3 percent.
Said state DEED Commissioner Mark Phillips: "Robust job growth in January points to an economy that is gaining momentum. The private sector has been particularly strong, adding 27,200 jobs in the past two months alone."
The leading sector in January: professional and business services with 5,600 added jobs.
Lowest sector: government, which shed 1,700 jobs in the month.
The state also included some revisions in previous data, which now show "the state has regained 59,400 jobs since the trough of the recession in September 2009 through December 2011, rather than the 45,600 jobs originally estimated to have been recovered. As of December, the state had regained 38 percent of the 156,300 jobs lost in the recession."