ROCHESTER, September 25 — Rochester, Minnesota’s metropolitan area added 43 jobs over the year in August, effectively flat growth that placed the region in the middle of a sharply divided Minnesota labor market, according to the latest jobs report from the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED). The over-the-year data compares August 2026 with August 2025 and tracks job changes across the state’s Metropolitan Statistical Areas. Rochester’s 0.0 percent change put it well behind the state’s growth leaders.
Mankato led Minnesota in percentage growth at +3.9 percent, adding 2,194 jobs. The Minneapolis-St. Paul metro area posted the largest absolute gain, adding 27,540 jobs, a 1.4 percent increase.
Follow the money and the pattern is clear. Growth is concentrated in Mankato and the Twin Cities, while smaller and mid-sized areas struggle to gain traction. The Rochester MSA, named after its largest city but covering a four-county region including Olmsted, Wabasha, Fillmore, and Dodge counties, recorded a 0.0 percent change.
Mixed results across the state
Other regional results were mixed. The Grand Forks-East Grand Forks ND-MN MSA added 700 jobs (+1.3 percent), Fargo-Moorhead ND-MN added 1,300 jobs (+0.9 percent), and La Crosse-Onalaska WI-MN added 600 jobs (+0.7 percent) — all based on July data. Only two Minnesota MSAs lost jobs over the year.
Duluth-Superior MN-WI shed 77 positions (-0.1 percent), and St. Cloud lost 876 jobs (-0.8 percent). The catch is that Rochester’s marginal gain kept the region in positive territory, but revised data and historical trends point to a broader tightening in the local labor market, with the area’s overall unemployment rate ticking upward to levels not seen in roughly five years.
DEED is the state agency responsible for collecting and publishing employment statistics for Minnesota, including the monthly over-the-year job-change reports used to track regional economic performance. The August figures are the latest snapshot of a labor market in which the state’s largest metro area continues to drive overall job creation while several outstate regions remain flat or negative.
What to watch next is whether Rochester’s unemployment rate continues its upward drift in the coming monthly reports, and whether the region can close the gap with Mankato and the Twin Cities as the state’s job creation remains unevenly distributed.
