Iowa
Iowa Endures Largest Monthly Increase in Unemployment in Quarter Century
The new numbers released late last week by Iowa Workforce Development continue to highlight the worst employment trend the Hawkeye State has faced in more than three decades. Iowa’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate increased from 5.1 in April to 5.8…
Read MorePawlenty Unallotment Strategy, Decision Not to Run in 2010 Have Little Impact on Approval Ratings
Just as Tim Pawlenty’s announcement that he would use an unallotment strategy to resolve the state’s budget crisis had little impact on his approval ratings in late May, his decision to not seek a third term as Minnesota’s Governor also…
Read MoreMinnesota and Upper Midwest Being Spared the Worst of US Job Loss Crisis
While Minnesota and the rest of the Upper Midwestern states are still in the midst of enduring some of the largest unemployment rates each has endured for many years, most of the region is historically doing quite well on the…
Read MoreIs Conservatism on the Rise in Minnesota and the Upper Midwest?
While the last two election cycles have seen Upper Midwestern Republicans lose seats in state legislatures, lose seats to the U.S. House, and lose statewide elections for the U.S. Senate and the presidency, the conservative brand seems to be catching…
Read MorePro-Life Stance on the Rise in Minnesota, Upper Midwest
A Gallup Poll released last Friday made headlines for its finding that a majority of Americans now identify themselves as “pro-life” as opposed to “pro-choice” on the issue of abortion, marking the first time that “pro-life” has been in…
Read MoreIowa Unemployment Rate Falls for First Time in Nearly Three Years
New numbers released this week by Iowa Workforce Development find the Hawkeye State joining Minnesota, South Dakota, and North Dakota in seeing a slight drop in the unemployment rate for the month of April. Iowa’s jobless rate fell from 5.2…
Read MoreShould Minnesota’s Corrections Budget Be Increased?
The passage of public safety legislation this week in the Senate (SF 802) and House (HF 1162) included a reduction of approximately $100 million of the base budgets across more than a dozen departments – the largest being a $34.2…
Read MoreIowa Least Affected by Unemployment Increases in the Upper Midwest
Although the unemployment numbers released during the past week by Iowa Workforce Development find the Hawkeye State with its highest seasonally adjusted jobless rate since December 1987, Iowans are not losing their jobs at the rate endured by other Upper…
Read MoreCharles Grassley: Folksiness with an Edge
At 75 years old, the longest elected U.S. Senator in Iowa history, the 11th most senior member of the U.S. Senate, and having cast more than 10,000 votes in Capitol Hill’s upper chamber, Republican Senator Charles Grassley is just…
Read MoreUpper Midwestern States Bearing the Brunt of Rising Unemployment
Although the majority of Upper Midwestern states are currently experiencing some of the lowest unemployment rates in the country, the rate of increase, particularly during the last four months, has hit this region of the country particularly hard. Overall, three…
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