The state’s top labor expert said further improvement could be difficult without efforts to break down barriers for black job seekers.

Minnesota construction companies shed 200 jobs from the month before, while the state’s employers, overall, added 7,300 jobs, according to seasonally adjusted data released by the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development.

The U.S. Department of Labor stretched out job-training and other services to workers at the idled Mesabi Nugget plant, in Hoyt Lakes and Chisholm, for up to 130 weeks.

The Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development reported Thursday that the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was at 4 percent. It’s the first highest since May 2014 and a tick above the 3.9 percent for June.

Before concluding Gov. Mark Dayton has built nirvana on the Mississippi, be sure to sort through the hyperbole.

The job additions extend the growth in the construction sector that traces back to April.

The change came as the labor force participation rate – or the proportion of Minnesotans working or looking for jobs – continued to grow, hitting 70.8 percent in May.

Minnesota’s construction industry reignited hopes for stronger growth by adding 6,600 jobs in April, the biggest gain for any industry.

Minnesota employers added 7,800 jobs in March, ratcheting up year-over-year gains to 50,829.

The new jobs, expected to be in place within a year, will push Andersen’s employee numbers back up after a notable drop during the recession.