MPR Economic Lookouts aren't surprised by high unemployment numbers

A half-point rise in Minnesota's jobless rate in July brought the state to it's highest unemployment level in 22 years.

We talked to two of Minnesota Public Radio's Economic Lookouts about the face of unenployment in their area.

Jesse Dahl is an electrician from Aurora, on the Iron Range, who has been out of work for several months. He says people in construction trades are all struggling to find work -- except for pipefitters, who are getting plenty of work at oil refineries.

Brent Olson is a writer in Ortonville, in west-central Minnesota. He says the problem in his area isn't so much unemployment, but underemployment -- where workers can't make enough money to pay for their basic needs. Olson is also a Big Stone County Commissioner, so he understands why so much of July's job losses came from governments.

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