Minnesota Poll: Majority say state economy doing better

More than half of Minnesotans believe the state's economy is in better shape now than four years ago, even though the same number say their personal finances are about the same, according to a Star Tribune Minnesota Poll.

One in four say their personal finances have improved in that time, while 20 percent say their finances have worsened.

"Four years ago there was no money to save," said Pam Welisevich, 48, of St. Paul. Now, she said, "there's a little extra at the end of the month."

In 2010, with unemployment nearing 8 percent and home values plummeting, the schoolteacher said she and her husband pinched pennies and avoided big-ticket items. Their home's value, she said, "still isn't where we wish it was, but it's coming back. Things are looking on the up side."

The poll found that the positive readings are fairly consistent across the state. In Hennepin and Ramsey counties, 60 percent say the economy is doing better. That figure drops to 45 percent in the suburbs, while rising to 55 percent outstate.

Numbers like that could help Democrats as they attempt to renew their hold on the governor's office and the Minnesota House. DFL Gov. Mark Dayton has presided over an improving economy and has touted the state's progress in adding jobs and shoring up its own finances. It underscores the difficulty Republican challenger Jeff Johnson has had in carving a clear and forceful message on the economy, but Republicans can be expected to appeal to those Minnesotans whose finances have stagnated for several years or even deteriorated.

The Minnesota Poll, conducted by Mason-Dixon Polling and Research Inc., interviewed 800 likely general election voters from Sept. 8-10 by land line and cellphones, with a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.

The poll also found a gender split, with 60 percent of women seeing improvement in the economy, compared with 49 percent of men.

The Minnesota Poll also mirrors some of the weaknesses in the state's labor market. The state has added tens of thousands of jobs since the recession ended, but wages have largely stagnated or even shrunk in some industries. Over the past five years, industries that paid middle-income wages, those between $45,000 and $70,000 annually, have shed nearly 32,000 jobs, according to the state's Department of Employment and Economic Development.

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics figures show that the annual mean wage in Minnesota for all occupations was $47,370 in 2013, down from four years prior when the annual mean salary was $49,907 after adjusting for inflation.

The Minnesota Poll found that 54 percent of respondents reported that their personal financial situation was the same as four years ago, while 20 percent said it had worsened.

Terry Bletsch of Minneapolis said his financial situation had grown bleaker, in part because he was forced to retire from his job as a FedEx driver after a shoulder injury. The 68-year-old said that finding work after he left FedEx was difficult because he lacked the computer literacy skills needed for many of the jobs he sought.

Because he's largely on a fixed income, drawing from Social Security and his previous employer's pension plan, any tax increases are difficult to absorb, he said.

"My taxes go up every year," Bletsch said. "The federal taxes aren't generally so bad, but every year, no matter what I do, I'm getting socked with Minnesota taxes … That never goes down. My pension and Social Security [payments] have stayed the same."

While voters' views on the economy were mixed along party lines, the poll of Minnesotans found that roughly the same proportion trusted Democrats' and Republicans' handling of the economy, 38 percent and 39 percent respectively. Sixteen percent of respondents said they trusted neither of the two parties when it came to dealing with the economy.

"I would say in some areas that DFLers have done better; not in all areas though," said Barbara Souther, 65, of Edina. "I don't like to label people by parties. I would rather deal with issues and not have this party, that party."

Souther, a former schoolteacher who works as a retail clerk at a Macy's store, said the economy has improved for many but not all of the state's residents, including herself.