Mixed Market Signals

At last week’s State of the Airport luncheon:  MSP airport tops J.D. Power airport rankings for second consecutive year. Congratulations MAC team. Well-earned!
 
This week we turn our focus to small business. On Sept. 25 at Lunch With Leaders, we’ll welcome DEED Commissioner Varilek along with Josh Olson of Ramsey County and Jimmy Loyd of the City of Saint Paul to share resources and support strategies for small businesses.
 
This is especially timely because last week we saw the latest release of Minnesota jobs numbers: Minnesota’s job market has shown resilience, with 5,900 new jobs added in August (equating to a .2% increase), outperforming national trends. The state’s unemployment rate also increased to 3.6%, still below the national rate of 4.3%. Growth has been driven by construction, education, and health services. 
 
Despite job gains, the broader economic picture remains murky. Fed President/CEO, Neel Kashkari, recently published an essay exploring the tension between price stability and maximum employment. He poses three key questions: 

• How do we reconcile signals from the labor market and from financial markets?

• Are we at risk of losing control of long-term inflation expectations?

• Which is the more likely risk, a large inflation upside surprise or a rapid further weakening of the labor market?

It’s a thoughtful read! 
 
And finally - don’t forget to register for our 2025 ICLV trip to Detroit!  We still have a few spots left, but registrations close on Sept. 25. Join us for what promises to be an exciting exploration of Detroit’s economic transformation. 
 
 
See you in the trenches,
B

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Chamber Check-in 9/23/25