Work & Money
Minnesota unemployment rate fell to 3.8% in August
Minnesota’s unemployment rate was 3.8% in August, down slightly from 3.9% the month before, the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development announced Thursday. The state’s unemployment rate is still well below the national rate, 5.2%. Minnesota gained about 4,300 jobs — an increase of 0.2% — a promising sign for economic recovery in this phase of […]
Agriculture section of reconciliation bill centers on fighting climate change, enhancing research
WASHINGTON — The U.S. House Agriculture Committee on Monday finished marking up its section of the $3.5 trillion reconciliation package. The agriculture portion would provide funding for historically Black land grant colleges and investments in urban agriculture, along with boosting U.S. Department of Agriculture programs to address climate change threats to farming. The $66 billion […]
Biden administration plan to cut high drug prices mostly quiet on middlemen
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services last week issued a plan to address high drug prices as part of President Joe Biden’s push to take on anticompetitive practices across the economy. Although it addressed in detail abusive practices by drugmakers, the plan was more superficial about the practices of some of the country’s […]
Amid historic shortage, school bus drivers push for higher wages and unemployment benefits
Unionized school bus drivers say they know how to fix the historic shortage of drivers that’s led to hour-long delays for students: Give drivers higher wages, more hours and access to unemployment benefits. “We need more money. We need more hours. We need these to become real jobs,” said Kelly Gibbons, a former school bus […]
The state of labor, in five charts
After 18 months of coping with health concerns and economic uncertainty during the pandemic, Labor Day is a much-needed break for many workers in Minnesota and across the country. Before the pandemic, there was little to celebrate for many American workers. Pay stagnated and racial wage gaps persisted for decades, even as the economy grew […]
Work: A barber treasures his autonomy
This is the first in an occasional series on the working life of Minnesotans. Antone Darrington: Barber and owner, Tone’s Barber Lounge Salary: Darrington expects the shop takes in about $80,000 annually, but out of that comes rent for the space, benefits, business insurance and supplies. Benefits: As the business owner, Darrington pays for […]
Attorney General sues mobile home park owner over squalid conditions, illegal fees
Attorney General Keith Ellison is suing a mobile home park owner in Marshall for failing to maintain the property and illegal billing. The roads in the Broadmoor Valley mobile home park are so bad that school buses stopped entering six years ago, according to Ellison’s lawsuit. Kids have to walk half a mile and wait […]
High rise window cleaners call off strike after reaching tentative contract agreement
Dozens of Twin Cities high rise window cleaners announced they would end their 10-day strike after reaching a tentative contract agreement with two employers at 1 a.m. Thursday morning. The workers, unionized with the Service Employees International Union, won both of their main objectives: pay raises from $25.20 an hour to over $30 an hour […]
Here’s the rent control question St. Paul will vote on this fall
The St. Paul City Council unanimously approved the rent control ballot language that will be put to voters this November. If passed, the measure would institute one of the country’s most rigorous rent stabilization policies and the state’s first. The ballot language — drafted by city staff to reflect a citizen-led petition — would limit […]
High rise window cleaners go on strike for higher wages, apprenticeship program
Nearly 40 workers who clean the windows of Twin Cities high rise buildings hung up their squeegees and harnesses on Monday and began an indefinite strike after failing to secure higher wages and an apprenticeship program. The workers, organized with the Service Employees International Union Local 26 (SEIU 26), began picketing early in the morning […]
Millennials are the largest workforce and the least wealthy — why?
In 2016, Millennials became the largest cohort of the American workforce, defined as those working between the ages of 16-64. What is most striking about the demographic changes in the workforce is the amount of wealth accumulated among each successive generation. It turns out that the Millennials — again, the largest of the four working […]
Evictions tick up as state phases out moratorium
Weekly eviction filings have about tripled since Minnesota began rolling back its moratorium put in place nearly 18 months ago, although they remain just a fraction of pre-pandemic levels because landlords may not yet evict tenants for missing rent. Beginning on July 14, landlords could resume evicting tenants for material violations of lease agreements — […]