My first minimum wage job in a pizza restaurant at the age of 16 taught me the most basic, important skill of all: getting my behind out of bed in…
Today sees the release by the Bureau of Labor Statistics of its estimates of Metropolitan Area Employment and Unemployment. These can be a useful way to compare economic performance. Minnesota’s…
Wages are just one part of total worker compensation. A new paper shows that when minimum wages are hiked, it is these other parts of worker compensation that are hit.…
This op-ed appeared May 21, 2018 in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. There’s an old saying where I’m from: If something seems too good to be true, it probably is. The…
In its new report, the Economic Policy Institute argues that "Wisconsin’s determined efforts to weaken unions have contributed to the state’s poor wage growth". But data from the Bureau of Labor…
In its new report, the Economic Policy Institute claims that Minnesota's performance in labor force participation rates since Gov. Dayton took office vindicates Big Government policies. It can only say…
Wisconsin's Gov. Walker inherited an unemployment rate of 8.1% in January 2011, and our own Gov. Dayton inherited one of 7.1%. Since then, Wisconsin's unemployment rate has fallen by 5.2…
Minnesota secondary teachers have an average wage of $62,590 plus benefits. Don’t forget that salary is just one part of the equation. You need to add in the cost of…
New data shows that, on jobs, Minnesota's metropolitan areas are losing ground relative to their neighbors.
Minnesota's rate of job growth in the twelve months to March 2018 ranked 37th out of the 50 states. Isn't this because unemployment in the state was already low? Well,…
New data shows that, on jobs, Minnesota's metropolitan areas are losing ground relative to their neighbors.
New data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that from February 2017 to February 2018 Minnesota's rate of wage growth ranked 45th in the United States. Given our below…
Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics gives the lie to the notion that there are lots of breadwinners trying to raise families on the minimum wage, especially in Minnesota.
In his final state of the state address last week, Gov. Dayton sought to take credit for Minnesota's economic achievements. But the evidence suggests that the credit really belongs to…
As Minnesota's population ages, immigrant workers could be one source of continued per capita growth. But that depends on a couple of things.
January's data saw the continuation of a trend. Minnesota's job growth is being driven by relatively low productivity jobs.
There is no shortage of economic data in the United States. If you want to look at it yourself to become better informed, where do you start? The Bureau of…
As the need for new talent ramps up, manufacturing companies are increasingly reaching out to parents to convince their children to consider a career in manufacturing.
Not all careers require four-year degrees, but many of today’s job listings stipulate a college degree as a minimum education requirement. Researchers at Harvard Business School recently released a study…
Between now and 2035, Minnesota's declining Labor Force Participation is going to slow GDP per capita growth.
Minnesota has low unemployment but creates jobs at a lower rate than the nation generally. And the jobs it does generate have been in lower productivity sectors of the economy.
The laws of economics applied just as much in 1946 as they do now. Here, in Newsweek from this day in 1946, the great economic writer Henry Hazlitt explains some…
As Paul Krugman writes, "Productivity isn’t everything, but in the long run it is almost everything." Productivity drives earnings and data showing that Minnesota's workers are less productive than the national…
September data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics allows us to take a look at how Minnesota's urban areas are doing compared to those in other states.