I dump on Minnesota government a lot, and deservedly so. But I try to be fair about things that are going well. The federal Bureau of Economic Analysis recently released its report on state-by-state economic growth and personal income growth for the second quarter of 2026. After several quarters, indeed years, of subpar growth, Minnesota did better in that second quarter, with 3.4% annualized economic growth, one of the better rates among states. Our personal income growth was 5.5%, not as good as the usual states, but okay. Personal consumption expenditures rose at 5.5% also, so people in Minnesota essentially added nothing to savings. The best news is that most of our economic growth came from the private sector and most of the rise in personal income came from earnings, not from government programs. That is a change from the past when most of our economic growth was due to government spending as was most of the increase in personal income. Eliminating a lot, but obviously not all, of the fraud has had an impact. One concerning note is that a lot of the growth is in health care and social assistance services, which are heavily government-funded. But a better report for solid economic growth. (BEA Release)
