Fed: Minn. recession to last through 2009

Photo courtesy of Surviving Economic Loss

Minnesota's horribly unawesome economy won't be getting better any time soon. Suck it up and deal with it, the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis says. The recession in the upper Midwest will last through 2009, the Associated Press says, with unemployment numbers continuing to rise.

How bad will it get? The forecast includes Minnesota, Montana, North and South Dakota, northwestern Wisconsin, and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.

Nonfarm employment in Minnesota is expected to fall 2.3 percent this year. How we compare to the rest of the upper Midwest: North Dakota is predicted to rise 1.1 percent, but the Upper Peninsula will drop 6 percent, followed by Wisconsin (3.2 percent), South Dakota (2.6 percent), and Montana (0.5 percent).

Minnesota will have the second highest unemployment rate at 7.8 percent by the end of 2009. How we compare: Wisconsin (6.9 percent), Montana (5.8 percent), North Dakota (4.4 percent), and South Dakota (4.2 percent).

Look on the bright side: the Upper Peninsula's unemployment could hit an estimated 14 percent by the end of the year.

In other bad Minnesota news, Gov. Tim Pawlenty says the state deficit could hit $6 billion to $7 billion in the next economic forecast is released in early March. That nearly 20 percent of the state's overall budget, the Star Tribune says.