Every quarter, the Labor Market Information (LMI) Office of the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) publishes a slate of research articles that offer insights into important labor market trends.

The latest quarterly issue of Minnesota Economic Trends features articles that: highlight the benefits of employment programs for people released from correctional facilities; offer a primer on understanding recession indicators; analyze wage distribution and wage inequality in Minnesota; examine inflation and wage growth by industry and across states; and more.

Select a title below to view the full article.

A Job Can Change a Life

Minnesota's extremely tight labor market makes it more important than ever to help connect formerly incarcerated individuals with employment. Recent research shows how a program that prepares people for employment helps those released from correctional facilities, employers and Minnesota as a whole.

Understanding Recession Indicators

A primer on recession indicators and a look at national and Minnesota data. This article utilizes data available as of November 2022.

Multiple Jobholding: A Closer Look at Moonlighting

Roughly 2.1 million people across the country have moved into moonlighting since April 2020. Who is moonlighting and what do we know about what spurs people to take a second job?

Minnesota Wage Distribution Analysis: Article One

The first article in this series sets the stage by describing the distribution of hourly wages of Minnesota workers in the year before the COVID-19 pandemic. It offers for the first time an illustration of the shape of such a distribution and its properties, including wage inequality.

Minnesota Wage Distribution Analysis: Article Two

The second article in this series analyzes how the Pandemic Recession affected the distribution of hourly wages of Minnesota workers and how the recent rise in inflation is influencing growth in hourly wages of workers.

Post-Pandemic Recession Wage and Inflation Growth: Comparisons across Industries and States

An analysis of wage and inflation growth in Minnesota and the U.S. with comparisons between industries and across states, where available.