Bachmann: I'm 'Proud' That 'We Have People Working Two Jobs' And 'Longer Hours'

http://www.startribune.com/business/13823081.html

State jobs picture turns ugly By MIKE MEYERS, Star Tribune
Last update: January 15, 2008 - 11:37 PM

Minnesota ended 2007 with its jobs market in a tailspin.

"Minnesota is in a recession," the state's economist, Tom Stinson, said Tuesday after reviewing the latest jobs figures. "I don't see how you can label it anything else."

The state unemployment rate jumped to 4.9 percent in December, up from 4.4 percent the month before. The U.S. unemployment rate stood at 5 percent in December. Minnesota lost 2,300 jobs last month, capping a string of declines, 23,000 jobs in all, over the last six months of 2007. That's the worst run of Minnesota job declines since the last U.S. recession in 2001. It also wiped away all of the job growth in the first half of 2007. "We should normally add somewhere around 23,000 jobs or a little bit more just to keep up with labor market growth," Stinson said. Instead, the year-over-year job total actually fell by 700.

The number of jobless people who are still actively looking for work rose 15 percent in 2007, according to the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED).

"We've lost jobs in December in eight of the 11 major industrial sectors," said Steve Hine, DEED's labor market research director. "That's a continuation not only of the weakness overall but an indication of how widespread, broadly distributed that weakness is."

That's not news to Sheila Spratt, 44, of Minneapolis. Recently laid off, she's spent two months looking for a job but has landed only three interviews despite 20 years of experience in office administration. "This is the first time I've done this kind of a job search, because I've always gotten a job before," Spratt said. The competition, she said, is fierce.

"I always feel good during the interview, and then they always say they want to interview 15 more people," Spratt said. With 20 years of experience, she considers $13 an hour too little "but right now I'd take $10" because employers seem to be looking for entry-level workers....