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April 1, 2009
“We are experiencing a tsunami of folks coming in,” Barbara Chaffee, Central Minnesota Jobs & Training Services Chief Executive Officer told Mille Lacs County Board members Tuesday, March 24.
“We haven’t had this kind of unemployment in decades,” Chaffee added.
Central Minnesota Jobs & Training Services (CMJTS) is a nonprofit employment and training agency and a partner in the Minnesota Workforce Center System. Its mission is to match job seekers, youth, businesses, and those seeking training with the resources available to them.
Chaffee and her staff reported on the organization’s annual financial report, increase in unemployment, the increase in clientele and money CMJTS is receiving through the Federal stimulus package.
Mille Lacs County’s current unemployment rate is 15.6 percent (as of February), with over 2,000 residents currently unemployed. The state’s unemployment rate is at 8.8 percent.
In 2008, the unemployment rate in Mille Lacs County was running between 7.8 and 10.3 percent.
Chaffee said the unemployment is expected to bottom out in September.
“Things are going to get a lot worse before they get better,” she noted.
Commissioner Dave Tellinghuisen voiced his belief that the unemployment numbers were skewed pointing out that unemployment has been extended and there is also partial unemployment benefits now. As a certified accountant, he isn’t seeing those numbers, he said.
In response, Chaffee noted that while that may be true, there are also people who have exhausted their unemployment benefits and are no longer included in that percentage.
“The face of people we’re seeing is different,” Chaffee noted of the baby boomers who are utilizing their services and obtaining training for new careers.
“It’s a whole new market right now and it’s kind of scary,” she added.
Central Minnesota has long been the fastest growing region of the state, growing twice as fast as the state as a whole over the last 50 years. However, the region’s fast growth has slowed in the last couple of years with foreclosures and job cuts affecting area residents.
From 2000 to 2007, Mille Lacs County added just over 1,700 new housing units according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
Mille Lacs County was the seventh fastest growing county in the state between 2000 and 2007 (increasing by 18 percent).
With the county’s median household income $12,000 lower than the state median income, Mille Lacs County has seen its share of foreclosed homes.
According to a report by HousingLink, based on county sheriff’s sale data, Mille Lacs County saw 247 foreclosures in 2008 (the third highest foreclosure rate in the state).
There were 749 businesses in the county providing 9,915 jobs, paying out an average weekly wage of $532, according to the Department of Employment and Economic Development’s (DEED) second quarter report for 2008.
CMJTS is receiving $1.7 million in funding from the Federal government for dislocated workers that must be spent this year.
“It’s a lot of money in a short period of time,” Chaffee noted.
Part of that will be used to provide summer jobs for youth (ages 14 to 24). The goal is to employ 800 to 1,000 youth for the summer to work on community projects.
Chaffee asked the board to provide her office with any community projects they would like to see accomplished. Chairman Frank Courteau told Chaffee the county would contact her with project ideas.
DEED’s Regional Profile Project Report for Central Minnesota has a positive outlook that reads, “Recent data and trends show that 2009 will be a challenging year, but because of strong demographic and economic growth over the past decade and a half, Central Minnesota is perhaps better positioned to deal with the changes.”
Unemployed?
On March 26, DEED announced additional unemployment insurance benefits to unemployed Minnesotans who have exhausted both regular unemployment insurance and Federal Emergency Unemployment Compensation benefits.
The program provides an additional 13 weeks of benefits to residents still seeking work.
To qualify, applicants must expand their job search to include work outside their normal occupation and accept work offered that they are able to perform. DEED will mail information to potential eligible individuals as they near benefit exhaustion.
If you’re looking for work, check into CMJTS. The nonprofit organization has been providing dislocated workers with assistance for 25 years.
CMJTS has countless stories of helping people with training, networking and resources to help individuals return to the workplace.
For more information, contact the Milaca office at 320-983-2995.
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