The Walz Administration claims that jobs are being added in Minnesota. That is dubious to begin with, but it relies on data from the Bureau of Lying Statistics establishment survey, which has a 30% response rate. We don’t know for sure how many employers in Minnesota are actually surveyed. The companion household survey has a better but not great response rate. The business survey says Minnesota gained over 6000 jobs in September. The household survey says there were 1700 fewer employed persons in September. How to reconcile this apparent discrepancy. You have to remember that in the current economy many people work part-time jobs and many have multiple part-time jobs or even a full-time and a part-time job. So you can have an increase in jobs and a decline in employed persons. Since Minnesota is losing working-age population, not surprising that there are fewer employed persons. And given the rise in taxes, energy costs, food costs and everything else in Minnesota, most people feel financially stressed and there is a greater need to work multiple jobs just to get by. (JP Post) (BLS Data)
