UNDATED - Go to any convenience store, restaurant, or retail store in the St. Cloud metro area and chances are pretty good you'll see a "help wanted" sign. It seems like everyone is looking for workers right now.

St. Cloud State University economics professor King Banaian says it's partly seasonal.

I think the ones we're seeing this spring are a combination of having students going away for the summer. So some of that workforce that we have here is shrinking, as it does every summer as students go back to their homes in other parts of the state.

However, Banaian also says a recent survey says employers are adding staff to keep up with increased business.

Area restaurants that I have spoken to indicate they're seeing more work and more business, and so they're trying to add staff.

Banaian points out most of the those opens are for part-time minimum wage jobs.

The St. Cloud Region's unemployment rate remains steady at 4.8 percent. That's about one percent higher than the statewide average.  Banaian says that number should come down in the next few months, as construction projects get into full swing.

Banaian also says central Minnesota needs to address the "skills gap", making sure people looking for full time jobs have the skills needed to fill the vacancies that are out there.

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