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By Peter Cox, Minnesota Public Radio News

Minnesota employers added 8,000 jobs in September while the state’s unemployment rate was unchanged, according to data released Thursday by the Department of Employment and Economic Development.

The state’s unemployment rate stayed at 3.1 percent in September, and the labor participation rate remained at 68.5 percent.

Both numbers beat the national averages of a 3.8 percent unemployment rate, and a labor participation rate of just under 63 percent.

Minnesota’s September unemployment rate was slightly higher than the 2.9 percent rate reported a year earlier.

The state gained 8,000 jobs in September, including 6,000 jobs in education and health services. There also was growth in the trades, leisure and hospitality and government sectors. The state lost jobs in the professional and business services sector.

DEED officials said the state has added jobs in nine of the past 12 months.

The state’s labor force grew in September, with 1,500 workers added.