Recessions and Depressions

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 >>

Sky Ferreira

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 >>

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 >>

Obama shouts out Warroad-based, Romney-supporting Marvin Windows [VIDEO]

SEE ALSO:-- Republicans sound the trumpet as Obamacare contributes to St. Jude's Minnesota layoffs-- Ross Murty, deli co-owner, caters for Obama, wears "Gov't Didn't Build My Business" shirt-- Romney has halved Obama's Minnesota lead since May, says new SurveyUSA pollMinnesota went atwitter after Pr ... 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 >>

Young women become more vain during recessions, U of M prof finds

SEE ALSO:-- Todd Akin's "legitimate rape" belief likely stems from University of Minnesota paper-- University of Minnesota graduate student defends controversial hamster sex drive studyA new study co-authored by Vlad Griskevicius, a psychology professor at the U of M's Carlson's School of Management ... More >>

Southeast Engine on Woody Guthrie, Barack Obama, and historical songwriting

Southeast Engine is an Ohio alt-country band that charges down the open highway pinned between grit and grace. Singer Adam Remnant's voice is one-of-a-kind in that it has an everyman's quality -- even if you're hard-pressed to find anyone who sounds quite like him. For those enraptured by the vocal ... 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 >>

State estimates $323 million surplus through 2013 budget cycle

​The state's budget for the 2012-13 budget cycle continues to pleasantly outpace expectations. Later today, state officials will announce that the current two-year budget has a $323 million surplus. That good news comes on the heels of a surprising November projection that showed the state $876 mi ... 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 >>

Fitch downgrades Minnesota's credit

​Minnesota's excellent credit rating got knocked off its feet yesterday by Fitch Ratings, thanks to the government shut down. We've gone from a triple-A rating to double-A plus. The upshot is that the state will have to pay higher interest rates when it borrows money. But before everyone sta ... More >>

"You people sicken me," welfare recipient tells critics: Comment of the day

rahegoComment of the day: Ease up on the hate for welfare recipients.​We wrote recently about Minnesota Republicans pushing a bill that would prohibit people who use EBT cards--government assistance on plastic--from withdrawing cash at ATMs with the cards, except for $20 per month. Comments ... More >>

Hazel's Northeast to open in old Pop! space

Mo PerryHazel's Northeast will open in the old Pop! space in early December​It has been a sad sight for months now: the windows of Pop! Restaurant on Johnson St. NE covered in brown paper, the lights dimmed. The neighborhood has been in mourning since the beloved Audubon eatery shut its doors for ... More >>

Chuck Prophet

Al Franken declares Minnesota sweet corn the best in the world

Senator Franken sans ear of corn​Minnesota Senator Al Franken may spend most of his time in D.C., but his mind is often on the state's food: getting it to needy children, pumping up farmers markets, and even bragging about the sweetness of our corn.

Izzy's, Meritage, and Liberty Custard get salty--with ice cream

http://www.flickr.com/photos/10506540@N07/3797233796Please pass the salt. ​ Happy National Rocky Road Ice Cream Day! That's right--it sure is. We were skeptical that of all the ice cream flavors Rocky Road got its own day, but its history certainly warrants a nod--especially in these economic time ... More >>

Avalon Security's Dan Seman terminates workers of all collars

Layoffs and downsizing keep Avalon in business

Minnesota Fed predicts slow recovery in 2010

But given the Fed's track record making economic forecasts, don't pop the champagne quite yet.

Arby's defying odds, struggling during recession

Is Arby's going down? It might even be doing so without a fight.

Robert Hawkins

The Saddest Music in the World LIVE

Mr. Lif

Recession Music means free stuff from StopHouse Records

Prof and St. Paul Slim say they mustered up inspiration from the bootleggers of the Great Depression

Minnesota suicide rate on the rise, mental health workers say

Is bad economy leading to serious depression?

Are Snuggies the ultimate Depression-era accessory?

Good luck networking for that next job sporting a Snuggie. Hey, your robe is on backwards! Why did you bring your blanket to the bar and how the hell did you get sleeves in it?

High-speed train from Minneapolis to Chicago may be reality

Thanks to Obamanomics and that sweet, sweet stimulus money, we may be on a fast train to Chi-town.

Dueling headlines during economic misery

"Recession Could End This Year, Fed Chief Says" (Washington Post) vs. "Bernanke: Recovery Will Take Years" (CNN).

Playwrights' Center Reading: The Three Christs of Yspilanti

Babies don't care about the economy

If the economy has you down, think of the babies.

In defense of Michele Bachmann

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Is Santa suffering during the recession?

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A kept man: McCain's wife owns so many houses, he can't remember them all

Tent wisdom from the Recession Vacation Laboratory

Welcome to the Recession Vacation Research Laboratory

The Weekly Triple Double

20 Years Behind in Transportation Spending

Bud, Not Buddy

Of Mice and Men

8/28 Morning Communiqué

Stop me if you've heard this one: Minnesota's running a surplus

Pawlenty's "Surplus": Now You See It...

The governor's warm (and fuzzy) budgetary math

The Fake Surplus

The Cost of Fuel Hits the Schools

Gas prices wreak havoc on education budgets

43 speaks

The Great Depression: Unconscious Pilot

Take This Job and Love It

Sure, jobs are slowly coming back to Minnesota. And the pay is lousy.

The Invisible Recovery

Author and economist Doug Henwood on jobless recoveries, the two Americas, and the "Wal-Mart effect"

Whistle Stop

Did Northwest Airlines try to muzzle a whistleblower?

Rainy Days and Mondays

The Great Depression are like the weather