State economist makes it official: We're in a recession

State economist Tom Stinson recently gave a "state of the economy" presentation for the Minnesota Budget Project (an initiative of the Minnesota Council of Nonprofits).

 

Here are the highlights from his talk:

• We are in a recession. Expect la oss of 55,000 jobs in Minnesota in 2009, across all sectors.
• FY 2010-11 revenues are down $3.3 billion from end-of-session estimates back in May.
• Watch job growth for signs of an economic recovery. National monthly job growth of 150,000 jobs indicates “normal” growth.
• Some good news: Minnesota was recently able to sell $300 million worth of bonds. We couldn’t have done that in October.
• The federal economic recovery package could be helpful in the short-term, and provide an estimated several hundred million dollars to the state in FY 2009 and something in the ballpark of $600 million in FY 2010-11.