Economy and jobs
By Eric Ostermeier on January 21, 2010
Minnesota's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate remained at 7.4 percent in December 2009 - unchanged from November
By Eric Ostermeier on January 8, 2010
Minnesota has endured second lowest increase in unemployment in the country since the 2008 Election
By Eric Ostermeier on December 18, 2009
Early signs show rate of jobs recovery in Minnesota moving at twice the rate of the recovery in the early 1980s
By Eric Ostermeier on November 25, 2009
Seven-state West North Central geographical division of the Midwest continues to have the lowest unemployment rate in the nation
By Eric Ostermeier on November 20, 2009
Unemployment in Minnesota has increased 35.7 percent from one year ago
By Eric Ostermeier on October 16, 2009
A Smart Politics historical analysis of unemployment data over the last four decades finds the 0.7-point drop from August to September to be the largest percentage point decline in jobless claims since at least January 1976
By Eric Ostermeier on September 20, 2009
Chet Culver has seen his job approval ratings drop 37 percent from December 2008 to August 2009
By Eric Ostermeier on September 18, 2009
During the previous one and a quarter year span, jobless claims in the Badger State increased 105 percent through July, from 4.4 to 9.0 percent
By Eric Ostermeier on September 17, 2009
The U.S. rate is 1.7 points higher than the Gopher State for the largest percentage point difference since April 1999
By Eric Ostermeier on August 25, 2009
As it turns out, the three-tenths of a percent decrease in jobless claims announced last week by the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development is the backdrop to an even larger story of (relatively) good economic news for Minnesotans. While Minnesota has endured record setting increases in unemployment over...
By Eric Ostermeier on August 21, 2009
New unemployment data released this week for the month of July in Minnesota, South Dakota, and Wisconsin provides largely good news on the labor force front in the Upper Midwest. In Minnesota, the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate fell from 8.4 percent in June to 8.1 percent in July. Minnesota's jobless...
By Eric Ostermeier on July 27, 2009
June was not a good month for jobs in the Upper Midwest, with unemployment increasing in Minnesota and three of its four neighboring states - Iowa, South Dakota, and Wisconsin. While unemployment remains below the national average across the region, the current rate of increase of jobless claims remains on...
By Eric Ostermeier on July 16, 2009
The South Dakota Department of Labor released new unemployment numbers Wednesday for the month of June - numbers which solidify the past twelve months as the worst stretch in modern history for the Mount Rushmore State's job market, according to available Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data going back to...
By Eric Ostermeier on July 14, 2009
With new unemployment numbers set to be released on Thursday, Minnesotans are bracing for news as to whether the state will continue to follow the leveling-off pattern of job losses from the last 3 months, or whether unemployment will rise closer in line to the nation overall (currently at 9.5...
By Eric Ostermeier on June 23, 2009
The new numbers released late last week by Iowa Workforce Development continue to highlight the worst employment trend the Hawkeye State has faced in more than three decades. Iowa's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate increased from 5.1 in April to 5.8 percent in May - the biggest net and percentage increase...
By Eric Ostermeier on June 17, 2009
New unemployment numbers released by the South Dakota Department of Labor quickly doused the short-lived optimism about the economic situation in the Upper Midwest, which had seen historic increases in the jobless rates across the Upper Midwest halt and slightly reverse course in April in four states - South Dakota,...
By Eric Ostermeier on June 12, 2009
The Minneapolis Police Department's official Uniform Crime Report data for April 2009 finds crime in Minnesota's largest city down 18 percent from one year ago. The 18 percent 12-month drop is the largest in the city dating back more than two years to February 2007, when crime was down 23.9...
By Eric Ostermeier on May 29, 2009
While Minnesota and the rest of the Upper Midwestern states are still in the midst of enduring some of the largest unemployment rates each has endured for many years, most of the region is historically doing quite well on the employment front when compared to the situation of the country...
By Eric Ostermeier on May 27, 2009
Last week’s news from the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development that the state’s unemployment rate had increased from 8.5 percent in March to 8.6 percent in April marked an inauspicious moment for the Badger State’s labor market. Although the rise in seasonally adjusted jobless rate for April was relatively modest,...
By Eric Ostermeier on May 24, 2009
New numbers released this week by Iowa Workforce Development find the Hawkeye State joining Minnesota, South Dakota, and North Dakota in seeing a slight drop in the unemployment rate for the month of April. Iowa’s jobless rate fell from 5.2 in March to 5.1 percent – marking the first drop...
