Carlton County, MN jobs, unemployment and layoffs

Carlton County’s unemployment rate is 4.8%. No layoff notices here in the last 12 months. 5 open professional jobs are in its cities.

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Carlton County economy

4.8%
unemployment, Sep 2026
3.8% the month before
16,995
in the labor force
Source: BLS Local Area Unemployment Statistics
36,457
people in Carlton County
Source: U.S. Census Bureau
$80,042
median household income
Source: Census ACS
37%
of workers in white-collar occupations
Management, business, financial and professional; Census ACS

Carlton County outlook: Cooling

Built from public Bureau of Labor Statistics and Census figures. It describes the area, not any one employer in it.

Private-sector jobs down 2.1% from 2022 to 2025
Population up 1.4% from 2020 to 2025
Unemployment 4.8%, up 1.0 points from a year ago

Local job-market news

Recent headlines about layoffs, AI and jobs in Carlton County. Each link goes to the publisher.

Gleb Tsipursky | Virginia’s AI training needs a first job at the other endAugusta Free Press · Nov 2, 2026

Learn and get funded in Carlton County

Which AI skills each kind of job asks for, with the pay premium.
Your local workforce board and American Job Centers: training vouchers and re-employment help.
Grants and funding for job seekers, ranked for your state and situation.
Unemployment benefits by state, if you are between jobs.

Carlton County layoffs

No layoff notices naming Carlton County in the last 12 months are on file. The WARN Act covers employers with 100 or more workers, so smaller layoffs are not in it.

All layoff notices in the state

Employers hiring most in Carlton County

Employers with the most open professional roles in this county’s cities. The county is taken from each job’s city, so roles with no city are not counted.

Fond Du Lac Reservation1 open role
QualSpec1 open role
Sappi1 open role
Sappi North America1 open role
Upper Lakes Foods1 open role

Colleges in Carlton County

Colleges in Carlton County
College	City	Type	Students
Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College	Cloquet	Public 4-year	1,000–4,999

Workforce development and job centers

The public workforce board and American Job Centers serving Carlton County. They offer free help with job search, training and filing for benefits.

Laid off in Minnesota? How to file for unemployment in Minnesota (steps, weekly amount and the appeal deadline).

Northeast Minnesota Workforce Development Board
Aitkin, Carlton, Cook, Itasca, Koochiching, Lake, St. Louis

CareerForce in Cloquet
Carlton · Affiliate · 218-293-4400
8:00am - 4:30pm

Cities in Carlton County

Other Minnesota counties

All of Minnesota

Laid off or looking for work in Carlton County?

See what to do first and the jobs open near you.

See your options after a layoff

Sources: Census Bureau and BLS (county unemployment is not seasonally adjusted); layoff notices from Minnesota’s published record; job counts from our live job board; IPEDS for colleges; CareerOneStop for workforce boards and job centers. Minnesota unemployment benefits and severance rules.

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