Employment
Prospects for job growth within the Minneapolis-St. Paul metro area remain positive given the diversified economy. There are several large companies headquartered in the Twin City metro area including 3M, Target, Best Buy, General Mills, Nash Finch, Land O’ Lakes, SuperValue, U.S. Bancorp, United Health Group, and PepsiAmericas, just to name a few.
Census records from 2000, indicate that the Minneapolis-St. Paul area has the 3rd highest labor force participation rate and the 12th lowest unemployment rate among metropolitan areas in the U.S. According to statistics provided by the State of the Cities Data Systems (SOCDS), there were over 143,228 out of 151,693 residents employed in Saint Paul in 2003. The aveage unemployment rate was 5.6 percent.
According to the 2000 Census, over 287,500 people call Saint Paul home. The three dominate racial groups in the city are Whites (67.02%), Asians (12.36%) and African-Americans (11.71%). Saint Paul also holds the distinction of having the world’s second largest urban Hmong population.