Business and Economic News

Rural town tries innovative solution to child care crisis
Affordable child care is a challenge for towns and cities across Minnesota. It's difficult to recruit or retain young workers if child care is not available and affordable. A northwestern Minnesota town is the first in the state to use local sales tax to fund a day care center.
There are now more nutcrackers than people living in Luverne
A new permanent display of 5,000 nutcrackers draws visitors from near and far — exactly as the original donor intended.
Duluth Mayor Emily Larson announces bid for third term
Duluth Mayor Emily Larson has announced she is running for a third term to lead northeastern Minnesota’s largest city. Larson became Duluth’s first female mayor when she was elected in 2015.
Savings at the gas pump are eaten up at the supermarket, as inflation stays high
A government report due out on Tuesday is expected to show inflation cooled a bit in November. But prices are still climbing and the Federal Reserve is preparing to raise interest rates again.
'It's a human rights issue': The year of Minnesota strikes and union organizing
Minnesota nurses just avoided what would have been a second strike this year. Railway workers this fall came close to striking. And, earlier this year, Minnesota teachers walked off the job. MPR News host Angela Davis talks with a labor journalist and a labor historian about why more workers are pushing for raises and workplace changes through a union.  
U.S. futures rise ahead of last Fed policy meeting of 2022
Wall Street pointed modestly higher ahead of the Federal Reserve’s last policy meeting of 2022, where it’s expected the central bank will raise its main lending rate by another half-point. 
Minnesotans to avoid inflation-driven tax sting with huge bracket tweak
Every year, state officials tweak Minnesota’s tax brackets to account for inflation. This year’s adjustment is the biggest in decades because inflation is so high. 
White Earth Nation imposes moratorium on large livestock farms
The White Earth Tribal Council has imposed a moratorium on animal feedlots within the boundaries of the reservation located in northwestern Minnesota. It’s unclear how the moratorium will affect the regulatory process for such farms.
New York Times journalists, other workers on 24-hour strike
Hundreds of journalists and other employees at The New York Times began a 24-hour walkout Thursday, the first strike of its kind at the newspaper in more than 40 years.
In an ever-brighter world, tourists travel north for truly dark skies
The fourth annual Dark Sky Festival begins Thursday evening in Cook County in far northeastern Minnesota, a region increasingly known for its astrotourism and a chance to see truly dark skies in an ever-brightening world.