Hiring at Minnesota schools up 7.6 percent

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Minnesota schools are hiring more people, following a couple years of job losses.

Nearly 107,000 people were on the school districts' payroll in August, an increase of 7.6 percent over the same month last year. The Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development says public education outperformed all other sectors in hiring during the month.

But, state officials and educators caution that it won't be known until later in the school year whether the August hiring numbers can be sustained. The St. Paul Pioneer Press says Minnesota public schools lost nearly 3,600 jobs since 2009, but August payrolls were up by 7,500 positions, including teachers, administrator, custodians and other staff.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.