Minnesota's unemployment rate ticks down to 8.6 percent in June

Minnesota's unemployment rate ticked down to 8.6 percent in June, but is nowhere close to returning to pre-pandemic levels. In May, the jobless rate was 9.9 percent, the highest in the state's recorded history. It was 2.9 percent in March before the crisis started. Minnesota reported adding 82,000 jobs in June. The state lost a total of 258,000 jobs between February and May. Fears of another round of business closures and job losses have started anew as the coronavirus flares in several U.S. states.  In Minnesota, the infection rate has ticked upward over the past two weeks. Gov. Tim Walz has said he's considering a statewide mask mandate, but has not moved toward new closures.

Coronavirus causes uncertainty for state lotteries

State lottery revenues do not make up a huge portion of a state budget. But because the monies are often directed to specific programs like education, environment or veterans programs, they can have an outsized impact when there are upticks or declines in sales.

Stores focus on cleaning to get shoppers back to spending

Forget about making shopping fun. As clothing retailers and others try to stay viable during the coronavirus pandemic, they’re hoping steps like cleaning during store hours, offering hand sanitizer and other safety measures will bring in customers to spend.

US adds 4.8 million jobs as unemployment falls to 11.1%

While the jobless rate was down from 13.3% in May, it is still at a Depression-era level. And the data was gathered during the second week of June, just before a number of states began to reverse or suspend the reopenings of their economies to try to beat back the virus.

Existing home sale plunge 9.7% in 3rd straight monthly drop

The National Association of Realtors said Monday that the monthly decline pushed sales down to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 3.91 million, the slowest pace since a home buyers tax credit expired in October 2010.