The demand for Minnesotans looking for work fell last month, MPR reports. There were 121,000 online job postings -- roughly 2,400 fewer than in July, according to the research group The Conference Board.

The number of jobs available in Minnesota counties outside the Twin Cities area is at an eight-year high. But some analysts are serving up a grain of salt with that seemingly cheery news. The Jobs Now Coalition notes that barely half the jobs are full-time and the median hourly wage is barely ten dollars -- not quite enough to live on.

Minnesota employers added 6,200 jobs last month, but the state's jobless rate still went up a tenth of a percent to 5.7 percent. Minnesota's jobless rate remains well below the U.S. rate of 8.3 percent. Education and health services added the most jobs.

Minnesota's jobless rate remains 5.6 percent for the third straight month, according to the figures released Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development. Employers added 7,200 jobs last month to end a three-month skid of job losses in the state. Minnesota is still well below the national unemployment rate of 8.2 percent.

The CEO of a Minneapolis company says letting low-wage jobs drift overseas could be a slippery slope. Patrick McHale of Graco Inc. told a manufacturing conference in Bloomington companies that provide low-skill jobs today often develop more sophisticated work. McHale called it a red flag that countries taking manufacturing jobs from the U.S. are also developing middle classes.

The odds of finding a job in Minnesota are getting better, the Pioneer Press reports. Job postings climbed 15 percent in the second quarter compared with the same period a year ago, the state reported on Thursday. Employers reported nearly 63,000 openings, up from 54,700 last year.