There’s a saying (not necessarily an old one, but it fits) that when your neighbors lose their jobs, it’s a recession, but when you lose yours, it’s a depression.
Right now, Mower County resembles the fellow who is still working, but looks around and discovers that not everyone has it so good.
No, the economy isn’t exactly humming along in Austin and the surrounding area. Our jobless rate is nearly three percentage points higher today than it was one year ago, and nearly 600 people have joined the ranks of the unemployed in Mower County in the past 12 months. If you happen to be one of those workers, times are indeed tough.
But in southeastern Minnesota, only Olmsted County has a lower unemployment rate than we do, and compared to the statewide jobless rate of 8.8 percent (the nationwide rate is even higher), Mower County’s 7.3 percent looks pretty good.
As spring gets rolling along, with its seasonal employment, road repairs and construction projects, we expect the jobless rate will decline in fairly short order.
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There’s a lot of heavy lifting ahead as we try to get our region’s economy back on track, but we’re confident that Mower County residents, businesses and city/county officials are ready, willing and eager to shoulder more than their fair share of the work.
