Unemployment climbs in SE Minnesota

The number of unemployed workers in Olmsted County shot up by 750 in January, increasing the monthly total to 3700

. At the same time, the number of employed workers increased by 500 to 78,500. The net result was a January unemployment rate of 4 ½ percent, up from 3.7 percent in December. The rate in January 2013 was 5.2 percent. All counties in southeast Minnesota reported higher unemployment rates in January. Olmsted had the lowest. Houston County had the highest at 7.7 percent.