Brighter economic days may still be out on the horizon, but they will come.
A report by the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development released this week shows that the state’s unemployment rate dropped substantially to 7.3 percent in September.
Local numbers weren’t yet available for September, but Koochiching County also showed an improvement. The county’s unemployment rate dropped to 8.1 percent in August from 8.6 percent in July. And even better, the county is nowhere near the 11.8 percent unemployment rate recorded in April — the county’s highest rate since 1995.
And while the news is good, we shouldn’t get complacent and must be careful not to be overly optimistic.
DEED Commissioner Dan McElroy is right to note that even a 7.3 percent unemployment rate represents too many people that don’t have jobs.
U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood was in the state on the day the rates were reported. LaHood said that the downturn can’t last forever, but urged the nation to find new ways to stimulate economic growth.
LaHood said Thursday that health care and energy policy reform, along with new ways of looking at transportation, will allow communities to prioritize investments in roads, bike paths, public transit and other infrastructure. And those are the actions that will put people to work.
We’re seeing that kind of investment locally, with the construction of two major projects along Highway 11 East.
Disturbingly, the DEED report notes that some of the statewide drop in unemployment is because almost 19,000 people stopped looking for work either because they were discouraged or went back to school. We hope more of those people chose education in contrast to ending job searches.
The good news is we are beginning to see a turnaround on the economy. With proper federal and state policy changes and the right kinds of investments, more people will work and contribute to economic growth.
