Most of Minnesota should continue to experience economic growth over the next several months, according to economic forecasts released by Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon and the St. Cloud State University School of Public Affairs Research Institute.
The Twin Cities metro, central, northeast, northwest, southeast, and southwest regions will experience either increased or steady economic growth in the coming months. The unemployment rate decreased in all six planning areas. Business filings also increased in four of the six planning areas statewide.
"We continue to see solid economic performance across Minnesota's six planning areas, with a particularly strong outlook in the Twin Cities, Southeast, Southwest, and Northeast regions," said Rich MacDonald, co-author of the Minnesota Regional Economic and Business Conditions report and interim director of the School of Public Affairs Research Institute at St. Cloud State University. "Labor market conditions remain strong as job vacancies remain elevated. Regional bankruptcies continue to trend downward and new business filings are rising across most of the state."
The seven-county Twin Cities-area economy should see strong economic growth over the next several months, according to a variety of economic indicators.
There were 11,380 new business filings with the secretary of state's office in the metro area in the first quarter of 2017 a 1.5 percent increase from one year ago.
Employment increased by 1.5 percent over the year ending March 2017. The regional unemployment rate was 3.6 percent in March, a decrease from its reading one year earlier.
Sixty percent of new business filers in the Twin Cities planning area completed the voluntary Minnesota Business Snapshot (MBS) survey in this year's first quarter. Results indicate that more than 14 percent of new filers are minorities; nearly 5 percent are veterans; and more than 8 percent are immigrants. Thirty-seven percent of new business filings in the Twin Cities planning area were initiated by women.