Economies

Who's in the race? A guide to the six candidates for Minneapolis mayor

In the three months since R.T. Rybak announced he wouldn't seek a fourth term as mayor of Minneapolis, a full cast of characters has emerged to vie for his seat in City Hall. There are the three City Council Members with their history of competition and split votes. There's the sole non-DFL candidat ... More >>

Minnesota personal incomes increased more in 2012 than just about all other states

Minnesotans are just hot, period. But recent data indicates our state is particularly hot in the areas of job creation and personal income.SEE ALSO: Economic recovery? What economic recovery? Mpls donut shop hiring... an unpaid internAccording to the latest U.S. Department of Commerce data, per capi ... More >>

Minnesota gained more jobs in last six months than any half-year since Reagan's heyday

What a difference a state makes.SEE ALSO: When dating prospects look bleak, women focus on their careers, new U of M study finds While Wisconsinites have been enduring arguably the worst job market in the country, Minnesota is adding jobs at a clip faster than any seen since Walter Mondale was chall ... More >>

Twin Cities still a top 10 metro for new college grads, study says

According to the listings site Rent.com, the best place for a recent college graduate in search of a decent paycheck and an affordable place to live isn't one of the much-buzzed about cities for bright young things, like Austin or San Francisco.Per the website's numbers crunching, top cities actuall ... More >>

Wisconsin lost more jobs than any other state in 2011 and '12

As we told you about 11 months ago, Wisconsin lost more jobs than any other state from early 2011 to early '12. New data indicates Wisconsin's job market continued to stink like rotten cheese throughout the rest of the year.SEE ALSO: Mary Hoglund, 83, spits in Romney supporter's face during Wisconsi ... More >>

Bill that would raise minimum wage 70 percent to $10.55 an hour advances in House

Rep. Ryan Winkler, D-Golden Valley, thinks it's about time low-paid Minnesota workers get a raise -- and a big one, at that.SEE ALSO: Mary Franson thinks City Pages blogger should blame his rent increase on Gov. Dayton Winkler's bill to raise the state's minimum wage from $6.15 for large employers a ... More >>

Best Buy to eliminate 400 good Twin Cities jobs

Over the weekend, the Twin Cities' macroeconomy made headlines thanks to new data showing it has bounced back from the recession stronger than any other Midwest metro.SEE ALSO: Minnesota's economic recovery driven by McJobs, not middle-class jobs "Measures of output for the Twin Cities benefit from ... More >>

Minnesota's Job Creation Index second strongest in the nation since 2009

While discussing income tax cuts approved in 1999 and 2000 during last night's State of the State speech, Gov. Dayton said: "In the decade after Minnesota's income tax reductions, our economy fared worse than the nation and most other states."SEE ALSO: Mary Franson thinks City Pages blogger should b ... More >>

No Coast Craft-O-Rama

Minnesota college grads have third-most debt; MCAD has highest average debt load

Yesterday, the California-based Institute for College Access and Success released its seventh-annual state-by-state student debt report, and it turns out Minnesota is right near the top of the charts when it comes to average debt load for college grads.SEE ALSO: Economic recovery? What economic reco ... More >>

Minnesota's economic recovery driven by McJobs, not middle-class jobs

SEE ALSO:-- The Mpls Federal Reserve breaks down the Great Recession, steady recovery out of it [GRAPHICS]-- Minnesota has regained 48 percent of jobs lost during Great RecessionMinnesota has regained 58 percent of the 147,600 jobs lost during the Great Recession. That puts up ahead of most of the r ... More >>

The Mpls Federal Reserve breaks down the Great Recession, steady recovery out of it [GRAPHICS]

SEE ALSO:-- Obama shouts out Warroad-based, Romney-supporting Marvin Windows [VIDEO]-- Minnesota has regained 48 percent of jobs lost during Great Recession-- Young women become more vain during recessions, U of M prof findsIn the words of one financial policy analyst, the Minneapolis Fed's new brea ... More >>

Totally Gross National Party

North Hennepin Community College opens food shelf... for students

SEE ALSO: Economic recovery? What economic recovery? Mpls donut shop hiring... an unpaid internOn September 4, North Hennepin Community College is opening a food shelf for its students.While it might seem strange that students who can presumably pay for tuition can't afford $1 a day for PB&J san ... More >>

America's Petro-Terrorists

Wall Street and Washington conspire to destabilize the U.S. economy, one barrel of oil at a time

Chris Fields says Keith Ellison isn't doing enough for black people

Chris Fields, Congressman Keith Ellison's Republican opponent for re-election, said in an interview yesterday that Ellison isn't doing enough for black constituents. Fields also claimed Ellison is unpopular with some "prominent Democrats" who have expressed their displeasure to Fields in private b ... More >>

Obama's Minnesota visit comes in wake of dismal jobs report

If it really is all about the economy, stupid, then President Obama's reelection prospects are more precarious this morning than they were yesterday. Obama is in the Twin Cities today. He'll give a speech at Honeywell's Golden Valley facility this morning before heading downtown for a string of fund ... More >>

Wisconsin lost more jobs than any other state over last year

It's a finding that Eric Pusey, founder of the Minnesota Progressive Project, characterized as "yet another reason to be glad we don't have Governor Emmer."Remember when Scott Walker promised to create 250,000 new jobs during his first term? If Wisconsin voters do, then Walker is probably in trouble ... More >>

Mitt Romney's "creative destruction" at Bain Capital

Representing everything you hate about capitalism

Minneapolis is the least stressful city in the country, new study finds

​Minneapolis is chill, both figuratively and literally (well, it's chilly here most years at least). A new study by Sperling's BestPlace finds that the City of Lakes is the least stressful metropolis in the whole country.The study looked at a variety of factors associated with stress, including su ... More >>

"Right to work" amendment advances in Senate

​The so-called "right to work" bill was approved by the Senate Judiciary and Public Safety Committee earlier today, but it's unclear whether the measure has enough support to be approved by both the House and Senate.Today's committee vote was 7-6, with Sen. Bill Ingebrigtsen, R-Alexandria, joining ... More >>

Minnesota has regained 48 percent of jobs lost during Great Recession

​Strong gains in the private sector helped Minnesota add 15,500 jobs in January, pushing the state's unemployment rate down to 5.6 percent, a level not seen since September 2008.In total, Minnesota has now regained 74,900 of the 156,000 jobs lost during the Great Recession. And believe it not, the ... More >>

Minnesota job market improved drastically last year

​In another indication the economy continues to recover, new data shows that Minnesota's job market at the end of 2011 was a helluva lot stronger than it was a year prior. According to the Department of Employment and Economic Development, job vacancies in the state climbed 47.6 percent during the ... More >>

Minnesota child poverty nearly doubled during last decade

​As the stock market rises and unemployment decreases, it's easy to lose sight of just how far the now-possibly-recovering economy fell from the pre-September 11 heights of a decade ago.Here's a reminder -- since 2001, the number of Minnesota children living in high-poverty neighborhoods has nearl ... More >>

Minneapolis 13th best city for social media jobs, study finds

Mpls' social media job market is very solid. ​Social media has revolutionized the way we publish and disseminate information. No longer are journalists ink-stained wretches trying to put together a story before a print deadline -- now we're more like carpal tunnel-plagued pixelheads trying to be t ... More >>

Franken's new bill would ban Fannie/Freddie from betting against homeowners

Franken wants Fannie/Freddie to put their money where their mouth is. ​Today, Senator Franken plans to introduce legislation that would help more homeowners refinance their home mortgages, saving them money and, in some cases, helping them keep their homes.Franken's Helping Homeowners Refinance Ac ... More >>

New Saints ballpark highlights Governor's bonding proposal

A rendering of the Saints' proposed Lowertown ballpark. The project is one of many in Gov. Dayton's $775 million bonding proposal.​It isn't $500 million for a new Vikings stadium, but today, Gov. Mark Dayton proposed a bonding bill that would allot $27 in public funds for a new St. Paul Saints bal ... More >>

It's election night in Minneapolis

Cleveland LeaderTwo special elections for legislative seats happen tonight in Minneapolis. ​"Election 2012" doesn't just refer to November 6.Ready or not, two Minnesota legislative seats, both in Minneapolis, are actually up for grabs tonight. One is House District 61B, which includes the south Mi ... More >>

State doles out millions to laid-off workers amid shaky job market

​Yesterday, the state Department of Employment and Economic Development announced it has awarded more than $2.2 million in grants to provide services for 585 workers who were recently laid off at eight Minnesota businesses.The grants represent a significant public expense meant to help out-of-work ... More >>

Food Fight

Occupy MN protesters march to the Fed [VIDEO]

​As their numbers increased in the Hennepin County Government Center Plaza this afternoon, more and more chatter rose among the Occupy MN crowd about marching to the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. The Fed was the originally planned occupation destination, but organizers worried that arrests ... More >>

Rick Perry's "Texas miracle" is a fantasy

The GOP presidential candidate's claims don't hold up

Minnesota job loss: Made in China

Tim and Mary Pawlenty, happily signing away all your jobs.​First we learned Minnesota is taking all the jobs in America. Now we know that China is taking all of Minnesota's jobs. So, A minus B, minus China, times infinity... soon China will have every single job in America.Well, maybe it's not tha ... More >>

Al Franken: "Unwillingness to compromise" might kill Obama's jobs bill

Al Franken says Obama's jobs plan can't survive political wrangling.​Al Franken watched the debate to raise the debt ceiling drag on -- and on, and on -- over party politics. Franken doesn't want to see the same thing happen with Barack Obama's new jobs plan, but he fears it might anyway.America's ... More >>

Michele Bachmann rebuts Obama's jobs plan with her non-plan

Michele Bachmann's got a plan, she just won't tell us what it is.​Barack Obama gave a speech before a joint session of Congress last night, introducing a wide-ranging second stimulus package to jolt the American economy back to life.Michele Bachmann says it wasn't even a plan, and said there are ... More >>

Target had a good month in August, stock drops anyway

Target, now with less "Super."​Target Corporation reported a 5 percent spike in retail sales in the month of August. No matter: Target stock is dropping today.Oh, no. This is it. George Soros bought all that Target stock, and now he's deliberately tanking the company, before he drags the rest of A ... More >>

Michele Bachmann used Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac for her home loan

Bachmann says one thing in public in, and does another in private.​Michele Bachmann used federally backed home loans from Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac just weeks before she denounced those programs and called for them to be dismantled, according to the Washington Post. Experts who reviewed the home l ... More >>

Michele Bachmann makes bold play for black vote, claims she's better for blacks than Obama

The title of Michele Bachmann's new autobiography took many observers by surprise.​This may be the craziest thing Michele Bachmann has said yet.At the Republican Leadership Conference in New Orleans over the weekend, Bachmann tried to make in-roads into Barack Obama's most reliable voter base by c ... More >>

Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit

Bachmann flunks Wall Street bailout history, hammers Obama rather than Bush

Michele Bachmann attributes the Wall Street bailout to Obama, not Bush.​Michele Bachmann has flunked American history again. "When he came in as the president of the United States," she said of Barack Obama yesterday in South Carolina, "he decided we had to have this $700 billion bailout of Wall ... More >>

U.S. Peace Index ranks Minnesota No. 4, that's all we are saying

srqpixMore peaceful than most states.​An organization called the Institute for Economics and Peace has crunched some numbers and some up with the U.S. Peace Index, a ranking of the most peaceful states in America. Minnesota comes in at No. 4. Does this mean we all have to go out to a street ... More >>

Crumble (Lay Me Down, Justin Timberlake)

Minneapolis is the best American city for finding employment

mattlawsFind work here.​All you people without a job, take note: Forbes magazine has named Minneapolis the best city in the country for finding a job. We can hear you sharpening pencils for those job application forms right now.

Tim Pawlenty CPAC debt ceiling talk at odds with John Boehner

​Tim Pawlenty at CPAC today doubled down with the Michele Bachmann wing of the Republican party by insisting that, "We should not -- we should not -- raise the debt ceiling." Like Bachmann, he wants to hang the nation's deficit around Barack Obama's neck. And the line got a round of applause ... More >>

Mark Dayton, in State of the State, tallies demise of the Minnesota Miracle

Screen grab via TheUptake.Mark Dayton lays out the bad news.​Gov. Mark Dayton used his first State of the State speech to summon the unity of post 9/11 America under George W. Bush, extol the Minnesota Miracle, and urge Republicans controlling the Minnesota Legislature to work together for the ... More >>

Michele Bachmann's debt limit dream is a nightmare, Boehner says

Another Bachmann confrontation with House leaders.​Queen of the tea party Rep. Michele Bachmann, with an assist from former Gov. Tim Pawlenty, is ramping up her battle urging Congress to block an increase in the federal debt ceiling. Forget it, says House Speaker John Boehner. That's a recipe ... More >>

Minneapolis ranked 6th best job market in America by Monster

Andrew CiscelThe economy's recovering, and we live in a great place to find work.​The president said last night that after the worst recession most of us have ever known, the economy is growing again. And Michele Bachmann helpfully showed us that unemployment is dropping. Maybe that has somet ... More >>

Twin Cities job market named among best in U.S. by Forbes

Andrew CiscelFind work here.​The headlines never seem to let up about the crappy American economy, and how tough it is to find a job. But Forbes is out with a new list today that says Minneapolis and St. Paul have the fourth-best job market of any major city in the country. The best was Wash ... More >>

Mark Dayton sworn in as governor today [UPDATE]

Mark Dayton will be the next governor of Minnesota.​Be careful what you wish for, the old saying goes. Mark Dayton took the oath of office as Minnesota's governor at noon, the first Democrat to hold that office in decades.

Michele Bachmann loses "Lie of the Year" again

​After getting trounced last year by Sarah Palin, we really thought she had a shot this time around. But once again, Michele Bachmann has been been stiff-armed by the readers of PolitiFact's annual "Lie of the Year" competition. Her whopper: