The Star Tribune's latest monthly operating report is in and man, is it ugly.

The paper lost $3.45 million between March 30 and May 3 — more than the $2.6 million lost between its Jan. 15 bankruptcy filing and March 29.

That means as an operating business, the Strib has lost more than $6 million so far this year, compared to the $31 million operating profit in all of 2008.

The paper also racked up an additional $2.1 million in bankruptcy-related costs, up from $1.5 million in each of the previous two reporting periods.

One silver lining would appear to be revenue growth: from $15 million in the previous reporting period to $18 million. Ad sales grew from $11.1 million to $13.6 million. However, that represents a 7 percent daily decline, since the previous reporting period had 28 days and the latest one 37.

The real crusher was expenses, which soared from $15.7 million to $22.2 million, a 7 percent per-day increase.

The big jump was in compensation and benefits ($8.3 million to $12.9 million), up 18 percent per day. However, that could reflect lump-sum buyouts. The resulting lower labor costs would likely boost operating profits in future months.

Somehow, the paper's cash-on-hand grew from $36.2 million to $36.9 million — and that's the lifeblood of the operation right now. The Strib offset its operating loss with a $2.6 million gain in accrued compensation and a net $1.6 million from inventories and other liabilities.