Minnesota unemployment claims have dropped faster in August than in any period since the pandemic began
In two recent weeks of data, continued unemployment claims dropped by 12 percent.
Economy
Why Trump’s promised $400 extra unemployment benefit won’t reach Minnesotans any time soon
Minnesota officials are still waiting for guidance on how to implement the new program — if it’s even legal.
The federal program that has been paying thousands of unemployed Minnesotans $600 per week is about to expire. Congress has no plan to replace it yet
Republicans have yet to come to an agreement inside their own party about what a new coronavirus-relief package should contain. And while it’s likely to contain an extension of the extra unemployment payment, the amount of the payment is expected to be much lower.
The number of concentrated-poverty neighborhoods in the Twin Cities has doubled since 1980
Once poverty is concentrated in a neighborhood, the neighborhood usually stays poor.
Greater Minnesota solar projects highlight utility plans for speeding up the green economy
“It was nice to see that they gave us a lot to work with,” said Joseph Sullivan, the utilities commissioner who first floated the idea for sped-up projects in May. “They really stepped up.”
Minnesota’s construction industry has been hit hard by COVID-19, and recovery may be slow
Construction work in Minnesota is always seasonal, with workers applying for unemployment during the winter months. But this spring, those unemployment applications only increased.
Caribou Coffee workers join in national campaign for better COVID-19 protections
Workers want hazard pay and better safety measures to be put in place.
How COVID-19 has affected the price of rent in the Twin Cities
COVID-19 has affected almost every aspect of life in Minnesota. The cost of rent, which had been going up for a long time, is no exception.
Can energy companies help Minnesota’s economy recover from the COVID pandemic?
MPUC Commissioner Joseph Sullivan challenged the state’s major energy companies to speed up the completion of projects that could put people to work.
Economic impacts of pork shutdowns will reach well beyond Minnesota farmers
A team from the University of Minnesota found Minnesota pork farms generated an average of $1.5 million in economic activity apiece and $33,100 in state and local taxes.
Minnesota isn’t going to run out of meat
Supply of specific meats and cuts may fluctuate, but a meat shortage is unlikely in the U.S.
Authentic coverage: Nine months in, Sahan Journal reports with nuance on Minnesota’s immigrants and refugees
During the pandemic, a report on Somali workers at an Amazon warehouse in Eagan was aided by Mukhtar Ibrahim’s ability to interview them in their native language.
‘We’re just in the second inning’: Kashkari, Osterholm offer bleak assessment of what is yet to be wrought by COVID-19
One day after Minnesota moved to further ease restrictions imposed in response to COVID-19, two Minnesota thought leaders — Neel Kashkari, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, and Michael Osterholm, director of the U of M’s Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy — had gloomy news for what is yet to come from the pandemic.
Can Minnesota county budgets survive coronavirus?
Counties face falling revenues and increased demand for services during coronavirus pandemic.
How do you run a regional sports network when there are no sports?
At a time when Fox Sports North is normally gearing up for one of its busiest stretches, COVID-19 has brought the sports calendar to a halt. So how does Minnesota’s regional sports network choose what to put on TV?
Unemployment benefits for Minnesota freelancers have started, but not everyone has been paid yet
While DEED has already processed 10,000 applications since implementing the program on April 24, it still has a ways to go.
Small farms are immune to safety investigations, even when a worker dies
In 1976, a few years after OSHA was created, Congress attached a rider to the agency’s budget that exempted farms with 10 or fewer employees from enforcement. The rider is included every year.
Minnesota’s farmers markets will be open soon. But they’re going to look different
COVID-19 has prompted drastic changes in the way farmers markets are planning to operate.
In the ‘climate refuge’ city of Duluth, a fight brews over the hometown utility
For those pushing for a carbon-free Duluth, the biggest roadblock may be a company that has long been critical to the region’s economy — and its identity: Minnesota Power.
The daily coronavirus update: Up to 100,000 Minnesotans could go back to work Monday
Minnesota also announced 21 deaths and 221 new COVID-19 cases.
