The March 2020 issue of Minnesota Economic Trends was being finalized as the first cases of COVID-19 appeared in Minnesota. At that point, the LMI Office and agency as a whole shifted focus - with all hands on deck to address the crisis. As a result, we decided to keep this issue short and not produce a printed version. We hope you enjoy these three stories.
The July issue will be our annual State of the State issue in which we will summarize what we know about the impact COVID-19 is having on Minnesota's labor market and economy.
As employers struggle to fill job openings, they may find it beneficial to consider hiring former offenders. In collaboration with the Minnesota Department of Corrections, DEED conducted a survey to find out more about employer perceptions and practices on hiring applicants with a criminal background.
Newly available data was used to trace trends in the nonprofit workforce and give us a better understanding of the sector’s impact on the economy. One finding: Health care nonprofits represent 59 percent of employment in the sector and create job opportunities beyond health care.
The Bureau of Economic Analysis has recently added contributions of gross domestic product (GDP) by industry estimates that provide a more detailed geographic distribution of the nation’s economic activity. Five Minnesota counties ranked in national top ten lists when 2018 county GDP is allocated across 21 industries and each industry’s percent of county GDP is examined.
