Minnesota’s four-week hiatus will cause some businesses ‘suffering’

ST. PAUL, Minnesota (FOX 9) – Minnesota’s four-week sundial has sparked backlash from lawmakers and business owners who say financial relief will be needed to survive next month.

The latest unemployment data paint a picture of the conflict. The state’s unemployment rate fell to 4.6% last month, but that’s because fewer people are looking for work. What is known as the labor force participation rate has fallen to 67.4%. This is the lowest level since 1978. The state employment director says the data point is troubling.

“But that means we are about 100,000 lighter job seekers in the state in the last two months than two months ago,” said Steve Grove, the commissioner for the Department of Employment and Labor. Economic development.

More older workers have left the labor market. The question is: where have they gone and why?

“I think the workforce declines are probably temporary decisions based on security concerns and the need to care for children and family members, rather than long-term decisions,” said Oriane Casale, from DEED Labor Market Information.

As more bars and restaurants close with the latest COVID-19 restrictions, the state expects the numbers to worsen.

“I think in the short term we’re going to see suffering for this,” Grove said. “We know that. We know that in the short term there will be more unemployed workers, there will be more companies that will be challenged, and unfortunately we know that there are more companies that will be challenged. will not be successful at the end of this year. ”

This is partly why Governor Tim Walz sent a letter Thursday to congressional leaders urging them to adopt a new stimulus package.

At the state level, Representative Dave Baker is calling for trade relief at the next special session in December. In particular, it calls for unspent COVID response funds to target businesses and employees, by canceling or delaying state sales tax payments and delaying repayment dates for businesses on state loans or administered.

All of this is at stake as the economy sets off again on the virus path.

“The fate of our economy is literally in the hands of the Minnesotans,” Grove said. “If we’re careful, we can come back and continue the job growth and hopefully be in a better place next month when we meet to discuss the data.”

Grove says economic modeling shows that if we continue to mitigate the virus, the state could regain all of its lost jobs in the third quarter of 2022. However, if all gets out of hand and hospitalization rates and safety concerns for Workers are increasing, he says while the recovery would not come until 2023.