September 2016 marked seven years of job growth in Minnesota, according to DEED Commissioner Shawntera Hardy. The state has added 278,000 jobs since 2009. Nearly 41,000 jobs were added in the past year.

Construction lost 600 jobs in September–but that statistic conceals the fact that year-over-year growth of 4.9 percent makes construction the top job-gaining industry.

Industry experts say that the construction industry might have been part of the overall housing bubble that burst in 2009. When that happened, many building trades people switched from residential to commercial construction.

“If they can get into commercial work they have higher pay and steadier work,” Betty Hardle, president of Residential Research Services said. “So when the recession and the [homebuilding] crash came, anyone that was qualified at all probably went into commercial work. … I would guess most of the guys that did that are staying in commercial work.”

Regionally, both Rochester and St. Cloud outgrew the Twin Cities in job growth.

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