Minnesota employers added 5,900 jobs in August, and the state unemployment rate increased one-tenth of a percentage point to 3.6%, according to data from the Department of Employment and Economic Development released Thursday.

Minnesota’s growth equated to a 0.2% increase in jobs in August, compared to effectively flat employment for the United States as a whole.

Minnesota also added nearly 1,100 workers to its labor force, which accounts for the rise in the unemployment rate despite the addition of more jobs. The state’s labor force participation rate was 68.1% compared with 62.3% nationally. This measures the percentage of people either working or actively seeking work, and is used to calculate the headline unemployment rate. As more people enter the work force, the unemployment rate r

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