Minnesota records first drop in jobs in a year

(St. Paul, MN) -- Minnesota labor officials are reporting the first drop in a year in the number of jobs in the state.  

Minnesota lost two-thousand jobs in December even as the unemployment rate dipped to three-point-one percent. Officials say one factor was the fast-spreading omicron variant.  

The arts, entertainment, and recreation sector took the biggest hit, with 16-hundred jobs lost.