Business

Minnesota employers cut 7,500 jobs last month

Minnesota’s unemployment rate edged up to 6.0 percent last month, with employers slashing 7,500 jobs, according to new figures from the Department of Employment and Economic Development. In September the state’s unemployment rate was at 5.9 percent, with job losses of 2,300.
There were 16,400 fewer jobs available last month than at the same point in [...]

University of Minnesota imposes hiring freeze

The U of M puts the brakes on hiring.

On an afternoon already ruined by the worst kind of freezing sleet, University of Minnesota President Robert Bruininks announced a system-wide hiring freeze for all non-essential positions. Bruininks told university faculty and staff by e-mail that the “pause” in hiring is in anticipation of poor state budget [...]

Second lawsuit claims $75,000 intended for Coleman

A second lawsuit has been filed containing an identical allegation that Sen. Norm Coleman’s long time political patron funneled $75,000 that was intended to benefit the Senator to a Minneapolis insurance firm, the Star Tribune reports. The case was filed Friday in Delaware Chancery Court and attributes the Coleman claim to a “confidential source.”

Untangling the political ties of the primary players in the Kazeminy/Coleman lawsuit

The man at the heart of the lawsuit filed in Texas this week accusing Sen. Norm Coleman of fraudulently receiving $75,000 has kept a low political profile over the years. Deep Marine Technology founder Paul McKim has given a total of $900 — primarily to Republican political candidate and causes since 2000, according to a database maintained by the Center for Responsive Politics.

Texas lawsuit alleging that Coleman received tainted $75,000 from pal Kazeminy is re-instated

The Texas lawsuit alleging that Sen. Norm Coleman fraudulently received $75,000 from longtime political patron Nasser Kazeminy has been re-instated, according to attorney Casey Wallace, who is representing plaintiff Paul McKim in the case. The lawsuit had been “unsuited,” in the parlance of Texas courts, as the two sides pursued a settlement.

“We entered into serious settlement negotiations,” says Wallace. “Those broke down today.”

Credit card defaults rise, consumer debt spikes 75 percent

Got credit card debt? You’re not alone. According to a recent report, consumer credit card debt has increased 75 percent since 1999 while wages have remained flat and savings rates have declined to their worst since the Great Depression. Already banks are hoarding cash in preparation for what analysts say is the next great crisis.

Local economists’ gathering questions bailout, sees dicey state economy in near term

This Tuesday, on a day when the federal government announced it will pump a quarter-trillion dollars into our nation’s banks, four of Minnesota’s most prominent economists were by turns caustic and cautionary in their criticism of the federal response to changing financial markets and to the economic crisis that has spread across the globe over the past few weeks.

MnIndy liveblog: Madia at the Humphrey Institute

DFL candidate Ashwin Madia spoke Monday over the noon hour at the University of Minnesota’s Humphrey Institute, in a Charlie Rose-style dialogue with Prof. Larry Jacobs. Tomorrow, Madia’s Republican opponent in the 3rd district congressional race, state Rep. Erik Paulsen, will appear at the same venue. The title of Madia’s presentation today is “Green Fuel, [...]

Dirty money: Tracking the political contributions of Tom Petters

Disgraced businessman Tom Petters has made $16,000 in political contributions so far this election cycle. Among the recipients: Sens. Amy Klobuchar ($5,000) and Norm Coleman ($1,600), Rep. James Oberstar ($3,300) and Sixth Congressional District challenger Elwyn Tinklenberg ($500). At least two of the politicians — Klobuchar and Tinklenberg — have given the money to charity.

MnIndy Interview: Doug Henwood on the bailout, the ‘D’ word, and the Great Panic of ‘08

Yesterday afternoon I talked with MnIndy’s favorite business/economics journalist, Doug Henwood of the indispensable Left Business Observer, to see what he’s thinking about the economy and about the panic in credit markets, which so far seems unfazed by the bailout bill or by any of the other measures the Fed and the Treasury have undertaken. “Certainly the risk of something really nasty looks the highest it’s been since the end of World War II,” he tells MnIndy. “Now, if you want to draw some comfort from that, sometimes when people are thinking the world is coming to an end, that can be a sign that we’re close to the bottom. Or that we’re closer to the bottom than we are to the beginning.”