New labor market data released today by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) for February 2026 continue to tell a troubling story about the state of Minnesota’s economy. The numbers confirm what we documented for January: Operation Metro Surge left real, measurable damage in its wake. With multiple months of data, we can begin to see how that damage has accumulated.
Looking across the three months from December 2025 through February 2026, the period in which Operation Metro Surge was officially underway, the data show Minnesota falling behind the rest of the country, with the heaviest losses concentrated in industries targeted by immigration enforcement.
Minnesota’s Unemployment Rate: Second-Worst Change in the Country Since December 2025
In February, Minnesota’s unemployment rate ticked up by another 0.1 percentage point. Over the three months from December 2025 to February 2026, the state’s unemployment rate has climbed by 0.3 percentage points, even as the national unemployment rate fell by 0.1 percentage points over the same period. That 0.3 percent increase ties Minnesota for the second-largest unemployment rate increase of any state in the country over this three-month period.
Job Losses Continued to Concentrate in Targeted Industries
Minnesota lost 6,100 jobs in February, bringing the two-month total to 7,700 jobs lost in 2026. As with the January data, these losses were not spread evenly across the economy but were concentrated in predictable industries.
Accommodation and food services shed another 2,100 jobs in February, adding to the 2,300 lost in January, for a two-month total decline of 4,400 jobs. Looking back to December 2025, the broader leisure and hospitality sector has lost 5,700 jobs, a 2.1 percent decline that ranks as the second largest of any state in the country.
February data also surfaced significant losses in construction, an industry that, like food service and hospitality, employs a substantial share of immigrant workers and has been targeted by immigration enforcement.
Minnesota lost 1,700 construction jobs in February alone. Over the three months from December 2025 through February 2026, the state has shed 4,400 construction jobs. This drop represents a 3 percent decline- the largest of any state in the country. It is worth underscoring that these figures are seasonally adjusted, meaning this drop cannot be attributed to weather patterns or other predictable seasonal fluctuations. This is a real decline, concentrated in Minnesota, in an industry with deep ties to the immigrant workforce that Operation Metro Surge directly went after.
The Damage Continues to Mount
Taken together, these numbers reinforce what we have been documenting since January: Operation Metro Surge did serious harm to Minnesota’s economy. The losses have continued to accumulate- in lost jobs and wages, in rising unemployment, and in the lived experiences of workers and families across the state.
As additional data becomes available, we will continue to document these losses with the goal of validating the painful stories being shared by workers and families, providing the numbers needed to support relief efforts, and maintaining pressure to hold Trump administration officials accountable for the harm they have caused.
