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MinnEcon Blog

MN women faring better job-wise. Could education be the key?

We reported recently on a fascinating study showing Minnesota women doing a lot better than men when it comes to unemployment. What explains it? Here’s one theory: education. I started thinking about that this morning listening to Steve Hine, director of labor market information at the state Labor Department, on Midday today. Hine said: There’s…
by Paul Tosto

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Nearly all MN employers covered by federal wage hike

There’s a lingering perception that businesses with sales below $500,000 a year are automatically off the hook from the new federal minimum wage hike. Not true. The reality is that almost all Minnesota employers will need to pay their employees no less than $7.25 per hour, a big jump from the current state minimum wage…
by Paul Tosto

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Small business: Doing the job but not getting paid?

Do the work. Get paid for the work. Even in a recession, we assume people will honor that economic code. But what happens when you’re a small business or independent contractor and clients are not paying you? In this economy, it means trouble. We thought about this after talking to Bill Turner, an independent software…
by Paul Tosto

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Minnesota’s “He-cession”

We asked recently if Minnesota was seeing more women as breadwinners in this economy. Now we have data — startling, to me — showing deep gender differences in Minnesota unemployment — gaps bigger here than the nation. Calling it “Minnesota’s He-cession,” the report concludes Minnesota men have taken a big hit compared to women. “Sex…
by Paul Tosto

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Fridley plant workers face buyouts, layoffs following Army cut

Workers at the BAE Systems plant in Fridley today are facing the inevitable fallout from a Pentagon decision to end a crucial Army contract: Buyouts are being offered, layoffs are coming. Some 311 Fridley plant workers were placed on paid leave a few weeks ago following the Defense Department’s decision to stop the “manned vehicle…
by Paul Tosto

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Older workers coming up short in job search?

The recession torpedoed the plans of many people 55 and older. Now comes new data showing those folks are having a hard time getting hired and they’re looking, increasingly, at entry-level work and internships. Twenty-eight percent of workers age 55 and older who were laid off in the last 12 months found new jobs, the…
by Paul Tosto

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Upper end “blight” in the Twin Cities housing market?

High end housing isn’t selling in the Twin Cities. Is that just a hassle or is it creating a new kind of upscale urban blight? In ordinary times, no one would cry over empty McMansions. But Twin Cities real estate appraiser Julie Schwartz says it’s become a serious concern. A source in our Public Insight…
by Paul Tosto

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Hibbing takes it hard: 18.7% June unemployment

It’s roughly a five hour drive from Moorhead to Hibbing. But those Minnesota towns live on different planets when it comes to unemployment. Hibbing’s jobless rate hit 18.7 percent for June, twice what it was a year ago and four times greater than Moorhead, the state Labor Department reported Tuesday. Hibbing’s was the highest among…
by Paul Tosto

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Doesn’t Marshall know there’s a recession?

Unemployment less than four percent? It’s the economic equivalent of defying gravity. That’s Marshall, MN right now. The southwest Minnesota town has the best jobless rate of any Minnesota city tracked by the state Labor Department. It peaked in March at 4.5 percent then slipped back to 3.9 percent in May, less than half the…
by Paul Tosto

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