The big thing you should know about economic recovery in the Minneapolis Saint Paul region for the week of December 14th
Welcome to the inaugural issue of the Weekly Take, an exciting new resource giving you the latest insights on regional economic recovery in the Minneapolis Saint Paul region.
This is a big week for the GREATER MSP Partnership as we launch the Regional Recovery Hub, a new digital resource with real-time information for leaders on the MSP region’s recovery. The Hub is the result of a great deal of input and co-creation with over a dozen partner organizations in the region. Leaders in the region now have a shared resource for tracking the latest information on economic conditions in MSP, which will help us all work even better to accelerate economic recovery at a time when it is so badly needed.
What can you expect from the Weekly Take? We plan to comb through all the latest data, trends, and current events to bring you the one big thing you need to know about our path toward economic recovery. Some weeks it could be a big swing in one of the metrics tracked on the Recovery Hub. Other weeks it may be a policy decision that we think will impact different aspects of our economy that have been hard hit. We may also highlight a regional partner who is taking action to accelerate recovery. Overall, we want to make sure you have a quick read, and you learn something that you didn’t know before.
This Week’s Big Thing: the Minnesota legislature passed a COVID-19 relief package providing much-needed support to businesses and workers impacted by the latest state restrictions, which, at the time of this posting, is expected to be signed by Governor Walz on Wednesday afternoon.
The package provides grants for businesses hardest hit by the state’s latest restrictions on business operations, a response to surging COVID-19 case activity in November. In total it includes $88 million in grants for restaurants, bars, health clubs, bowling alleys and other businesses that have seen reduced sales of at least 30% from last year, as well as $14 million for some movie theaters and convention centers that have been forced to close. It also includes $114 million to counties to provide relief grants to businesses in their communities.
The impacts of state restrictions on business operations instituted in late November have been considerable for the food and beverage industry. The impacts of restrictions have been especially challenging for restaurants and bars, an industry that employs 6% of all workers in the region. The Regional Recovery Hub shows that restaurant bookings dropped next to zero, 99% below reservation activity from one year prior for the first week of December. As of October, employment in restaurants and bars is down 16% from one year prior, and there are 17,000 fewer jobs in the industry than there were in February 2020. At the time of this posting Governor Walz is expected to adjust restrictions, which are set to expire on Friday December 18th, to allow restaurants and bars to resume outdoor service up to 50% capacity.
We also witnessed weekly jobless claims (initial unemployment insurance claims) spike above 10,000, a level we hadn’t seen in the region since June. The relief package includes much-needed extensions on unemployment insurance benefits which were set to expire on December 26th, adding 13 additional weeks of benefits. This is an important bridge for Minnesotans while federal fiscal support remains up in the air. If the federal government passes a UI package, this additional benefit that Minnesota passed will be replaced by the federal package for the full length of any federal program.
The state relief package and loosening of restrictions are likely to show an impact on a few of the metrics we track on the Regional Recovery Hub. Follow Restaurant Bookings and Jobless Claims over the next few weeks to see improvements toward recovery.
Want to see the latest data and insights on economic recovery in MSP? Check out the MSP Regional Recovery Hub, which is now live on the GREATER MSP Partnership website. The Hub is in beta, which means we are actively working to enhance the functionality to make sure it works for you. If you have any questions or feedback on the Recovery Hub, or would like to learn more about getting involved contact Amanda Taylor, Vice President of Research & Intelligence.