Free Press reports from last week seem to sound a somewhat optimistic note about Black Friday shopping, with retailers saying it was definitely better than last year.
That's not too surprising, given we were in midst of much uncertainty in the national economy last Christmas. We were in the middle of bank bailouts, stimulus plans, and new federal deficit projections. Lots of people were fairly cautious.
The job picture in the Mankato region also appears to be better than one year ago. The unemployment rate is down and the number of people working is up slightly for Blue Earth and Nicollet counties, even though the number of people looking for work and not being able to find it is much higher.
Part-time jobs for college students have been particularly tough. Word on the street was a new Pizza place opening had a couple of entry level jobs that drew 150 applications even without much publicity.
Bar owners downtown also sound a definitely less optimistic note, especially just in the last couple of months.
The Free Press carried another story a week ago that detailed a number of area businesses beginning to rehire people they had laid off earlier this year. That included about 80 re-hired workers at ISJ-Mayo hospital and 60 at Wells Concrete. Jones Metal products recalled about a dozen.
Statewide, 3M, Best Buy and Ecolab also reported they were hiring again.
The Mankato regional economy also has major employers who are in industries, according to state figures, that are growing again, namely health care and educational services.
A recent unscientific poll on The Free Press Web site showed about half believed the regional economy was stable and doing well, another half thought it was stagnant.
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