Despite Minnesota construction wages being up 8.9% from last year, the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) reported in September that the state is down 1,568 construction jobs from a year ago. Although construction employment in the U.S. is up 4% overall, Minnesota doesn’t seem to be following the same trend line.

Brian Johnson, staff writer with Finance & Commerce, reported that manufacturing lost the most jobs (3,200); followed by trade, transportation and utilities (2,300); construction (1,900); information (500) and leisure and hospitality (100), while government had the biggest gains with 2,800 jobs added. On the upside, construction is one of the few sectors where wage increases are outpacing inflation.