South Dakota
South Dakota Unemployment Rate Reaches 23+ Year High
South Dakota’s Department of Labor announced the state’s new March 2009 unemployment numbers Wednesday morning – numbers which find the Mouth Rushmore State enduring its highest jobless rate in more than 23 years. The seasonally adjusted March 2009 unemployment rate…
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…
Read MoreIs Minnesota the Most Democratic-Friendly State in the Midwest?
Smart Politics recently examined Governor Tim Pawlenty’s approval rating and highlighted its remarkable strength and stability in the face of the current economic crisis. But Pawlenty’s popularity is also noteworthy when viewed in the greater partisan environment of the Gopher…
Read MoreJobless Claims Rate of Increase Slowed Across Upper Midwest in February
Preliminary seasonally adjusted unemployment data for the month of February 2009 was released on Wednesday and Thursday for three Upper Midwestern states, with each showing a reduction in the rate of growth of jobless claims. While unemployment rates continued to…
Read MoreUpper Midwest House Members Vote 18-5 in Favor of TARP Bailout Bonus Tax
On Thursday, Upper Midwestern U.S. House Democrats unanimously supported a bill that would impose an additional tax on bonuses received from certain Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP) recipients. The measured passed 328 to 93 in the lower chamber. The bill…
Read MoreHeading (North) West, Young Man? Not So Fast, Minnesota
What with Minnesota’s unemployment rate and per capita 2010 budget deficit the largest in the entire Upper Midwestern region, one wonders if Gopher State residents will soon look to the purportedly thriving Dakotas to find economic shelter during these trying…
Read MoreMinnesota Legislature Ranks Near Bottom in Proportional Representation of African-Americans
Although Minnesota has the 4th highest percentage of women serving in state legislatures nationwide, the Gopher State only ranks 40th in the country in terms of proportional representation of African-Americans in St. Paul. Out of the 201 legislators in the…
Read MoreSouth Dakota Suffers Record Unemployment Jump in January
Although South Dakota has not yet been hit by the scale of job losses experienced across the nation or the Upper Midwest, the new January numbers released on Friday by the state’s Department of Labor indicate South Dakota, like its…
Read MoreMinnesota Ranks 4th in the Nation in Electing Women to State Legislatures
Unlike its Upper Midwestern neighbors, Minnesota continues to be among the nation’s leading states in electing women to state legislative office, according an analysis by Smart Politics of data compiled by the National Conference of State Legislatures. For the second…
Read MoreHow Bad Are Things In Minnesota, Really?
From the rising unemployment numbers to the state budget crisis, the news in Minnesota seems to be getting worse and worse. Adding insult to injury came the recent news last week that Minneapolis ranked as the fourth least desirable metropolitan…
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