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THE MINNESOTA ECONOMIC ENVIRONMENT:

1985

Bruce K. MacLaury
President, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis

Remarks presented to the conference, "Future Environment of Minnesota
The Educational Task," at Onamia, Minnesota, May 12-14, 1974.




The British economist, John Maynard Keynes, writing in the
1930fs, envisioned a future age of abundance in which the hitherto
primary problem of mankind, the struggle for subsistence, would be
solved. Manfs permanent problem would therefore become "how to use his
freedom from pressing economic cares, and how to occupy his leisure...to
live wisely and agreeably and well/*
Like other Americans, Minnesotans have not yet gained that
"freedom from pressing economic cares11 of which Keynes wrote. None­
theless we have attained levels of affluence which for the average
citizen were undreamed of only a half-century ago, and it is well to
begin by counting our blessings. By many standards our economic system
has performed admirably.
Per capita income had grown to $4,300 by 1972 and is increasing
at a slightly faster rate than in the nation. The state1s people are
skilled and well-educated. The problems of pollution, urban blight, and
racial tension are less severe in Minnesota than in many other states.
In many respects the state is a prototype of a good life that most
Americans would find appealing, in that it combines urban grace and
rustic charm as do few other areas in the nation.
However, problems still remain. As in other agrarian states a
rapid out-migration has drained many rural areas of their vitality and
has left them incapable of supplying necessary social services. Neither
unprecedented levels of wealth nor welfare programs has been able to
eliminate pockets of poverty in the economy. Urban centers face the
problem of paying for a growing list of public services. Finally, for
several reasons, one senses that many people are not comfortable with
the way our economic system has been performing. Despite our affluence
we have not learned to live "wisely, and agreeably, and well." Much of
our wealth has been squandered on gadgetry. We have private riches, but
are still groping for a sense of public purpose. And as a nation,
though we have better than a trillion dollar GNP, we are not certain how
we want to use it.
The Minnesota Economy in 1974
How has the Minnesota economic system evolved over time? Has
it performed satisfactorily? Why have some of its sectors grown rapidly
while others have hardly grown at all? What problems still exist today
and where are we headed in the next decade? In answering these questions
it seems wise to begin by describing what an economic system is and by
surveying the present status of the Minnesota economy.
An economic system is used to organize the production, distribu­
tion, and consumption of goods and services as people go about the
business of making a living. Economic activity is organized into sectors—




or subsystems— which differ according to the types of goods being produced.
Examples of economic sectors are the manufacturing sector, the agri­
cultural sector, the trade sector, and the services sector.
Economic systems, like other systems, are constantly changing.
The demand for different goods and services changes as consumers gain
more affluence or as their attitudes change. The discovery of new
resources stimulates the growth of some sectors; the depletion of old
resources results in the decline of other sectors. Over time new types
of goods and services come into existence and supplant the already
existing goods. Cost-saving technologies alter the ways in which some
goods are produced and make established methods of production obsolete.
All these changes are ultimately reflected in the growth of some economic
sectors and in the stagnation of other sectors. More importantly, for a
region or state, the decline of one sector may result in unemployment,
poverty, and social decay.
By 1972 the total Minnesota civilian work force had grown to
1,690,000, equal to about 2 percent of the total U.S. labor force.
Agriculture’s share of total employment was small in both the nation and
in Minnesota, but the farm sector was roughly twice as prominent in the
Minnesota economy as in the nation (Chart 1). Manufacturing in Minnesota
was slightly less important than in the U.S., but growing more rapidly.
In both instances the major share of the manufacturing work force was
employed in the durable goods industries. In Minnesota, only 7.6 percent
of total employment was in agriculture; manufacturing accounted for 19.3
percent of total employment.
Fifteen percent of Minnesota’s workers were employed in govern­
ment in 1972; many of these were in education. Better than 20 percent
of the work force was employed in the trades with nearly three-fourths
of those being in the retail trades. More than one in five workers was
employed in that diverse group of occupations called services; this
sector includes unskilled domestic workers as well as highly trained
professionals such as doctors and lawyers.
Regions within Minnesota differed markedly in their industrial
structure (Chart 2). Several regions of the state, notably its western
and southern regions, remain predominantly agricultural regions. Farming
in these regions is still an important source of employment, and most of
the supply and support industries cater to a farming constituency.
There is little industry in most of these farming regions; in some
economic development regions fewer than one in ten persons was employed
in manufacturing activity in 1972. Some regions of the state still
tended to specialize in one economic activity, but the degree of speciali­
zation was becoming less pronounced. Mining in 1972 still accounted for
more than 10 percent of the jobs in the Arrowhead region of northeast
Minnesota, but that share has been declining in recent years. The
Second Economic Development Region, in north-central Minnesota, relied
more heavily on lumbering and the manufacture of wood products than did
the other districts, but even so, only one in twenty workers in this
region was employed in the lumbering industry.




- 3 -

More than half the state's work force is employed in the
Metropolitan Region, which consists of the area in and around the Twin
Cities (Chart 3)* Agriculture, so important in outstate Minnesota, pro­
vides less than 1 percent of the employment in the Metropolitan Region,
but nearly two-thirds of the state’s manufacturing activity is located
there. The region also serves as the Upper Midwest’s trade and finance
center. Two-thirds of Minnesota’s wholesale trade was centered in the
Metropolitan Region, as was nearly three-fourths of the employment in
the finance, insurance, and real-estate sectors.

Trends and Projections
What trends have characterized the past development of the
economy? Can these trends be expected to continue into the future?
What will be the implications of future trends for different regions in
Minnesota?
Some trends, such as changes in employment and income and
quantifiable. Other important changes, such as changes in the economy’s
institutional underpinnings, are less quantifiable, and when this is the
case, our observations and projections tend to be more impressionistic.
Nonetheless, institutional changes are just as real as changes in em­
ployment, and they cannot be ignored. The employment projections made
in the following pages are just that— projections, not forecasts.^
They project what the 1985 economy will look like if the trends of the
past continue unabated into the next decade. It is thus assumed that
neither energy shortages nor environmental constraints will disrupt the
normal course of affairs. Wars, droughts, dollar devaluations, and
other random events are not considered in the analysis, and the occurrence
of such events would likely nullify our projections.
If present trends continue we are likely to see a continuing
decline in the importance of Minnesota’s primary industries— agriculture
and mining (Chart 4). Together these two sectors of the economy accounted
for only 8.4 percent of the state’s total employment in 1972, and that
figure may drop to about 4.0 percent in 1985. However, both industries
are perhaps more important to the state’s economy than figures on
employment indicate.

^Migration is not expected to either significantly increase or
decrease the rate of growth of the state’s labor force. No explicit
assumptions have been made regarding participation rates in the labor
force. Implicitly, however, the trend line projections reflect the
recent changes in the age-sex composition of the labor force.
The projections were obtained using least-square statistical
techniques. Ad hoc adjustments were made in the statistical projections
whenever it was deemed that the projections obtained were inconsistent.
Throughout, the unemployment rate was assumed to be 3.9 percent of the
civilian work force.




Agriculture

The rural to urban migration of the past quarter-century has
been one of history’s most massive population movements and has greatly
altered the structure of the Minnesota economy. As late as 1950, nearly
1 of every 4 Minnesotans worked in agriculture; by 1972 that ratio had
fallen to fewer than 1 in 12. If past trends continue to 1985, fewer
than one in every 25 workers in the state will be employed in farming,
an annual rate of decline of 4.2 percent. However, because of 1973 one
must question whether long-run trends will in fact continue into the
future.
The key at this juncture appears to be foreign demand. In
many ways the world of the 1970fs has become one interrelated market,
and nowhere has this interrelatedness been more dramatically revealed
than in farming in 1973. Historically foreign demand has taken only a
small share of our farm output. Through the 1960’s we literally gave
grain away. But by 1973 export sales had nearly tripled over 1970. The
Russian grain deal of 1972 set off an explosive rise in wheat prices.
The failure of the anchovy catch off the coast of Peru spurred a sharp
upsurge in soybean prices. Two devaluations of the dollar gave further
impetus to rising foreign demand. The world market has indeed come to
our doorstep, and the farm sector1s future prosperity seems heavily
dependent on the future strength of foreign demand.
The out-migration from farming in the past two or three decades
has not been merely a problem of lagging demand, and factors other than
foreign demand will help determine whether farm numbers continue to
decline. First, it seems likely that long-run trends in productivity
will continue into the years ahead; these changes have been highly
labor-saving in the past. Since the smallest 51 percent of the state’s
farms accounted for only 13 percent of total sales in 1969, it appears
that there is still room for the consolidation of commercial farming
operations.
Second, in the past the prices of purchased inputs such as
fertilizer and petroleum products have been low relative to wages and
this has encouraged the rapid adoption of capital-intensive, energyintensive farming techniques. Of course the long-run trend has been
dramatically reversed by the energy crisis, and this may slow the rate
of decline in farm numbers.
Third, it seems likely that a continuing specialization of
economic activities will further circumscribe the farmer’s domain as
activities formerly performed on the farm will be performed at the next
stage in the production process. Moreover, for at least some products,
the farms of the future may bear little resemblance to our conventional
notion of what a farm is— this is already true of the broiler industry
and the large feedlot operations, both of which are structured more like
factories than like farms.
The future of the sector is thus clouded with uncertainties.
Future trends in export demand is especially uncertain. Mounting world




- 5 -

population pressures may serve to sustain exports at high levels in
future years, but there is also the haunting possibility that 1973 was a
one-shot affair and that we may be headed back into a world of burden­
some surpluses and low farm prices. Regarding farm numbers, perhaps the
best guess is that the decline in farm employment will continue because
of the pervasiveness of labor-saving technological advances, but that
the rate of decline may not be as great as in the past.

Mining
Like agriculture, mining has often been cited as a declining
industry. But unlike agriculture the mining industry is highly localized,
and the regional concentration of the state’s mining activity in the
iron ore areas of northeastern Minnesota has translated directly into
high rates of unemployment in that area.
Several problems have plagued the industry. The depletion of
higher grade ores has raised the industry’s cost structure and encouraged
the switch to alternative metals. Advancing technology in the metalusing industries has reduced the metal per unit of output, thereby
tending to reduce the demand for iron. Within the mining sector, rapid
productivity gains per worker— 4.2 percent annually for the nation— have
reduced labor requirements and resulted in layoffs. Surface mining,
which is amenable to the use of capital-intensive techniques, has
largely replaced underground mining. Secondary impacts have compounded
the problem of declining employment in the mining regions. The transport
sector of the mining region has been especially hard hit by the decline.
Projecting current trends to 1985 indicates that employment in
mining will fall to 10,000 persons, less than 1/2 of 1 percent of the
state’s work force. However, the future of the industry may be almost
as uncertain as that of agriculture. Domestic price controls and soaring
world prices have boosted export demand, but the nation is still a net
importer of many key resources, and in a resources-short world of the
future, we may find ourselves facing cartel arrangements patterned after
the Arab oil embargo— the bauxite-producing nations are already exploring
this possibility. If that should happen, the resulting higher prices,
together with continuing technological advances, might make the extraction
of lower-grade tores economically feasible. There is some room for
expansion of the mining industry in Minnesota; however any employment
increases will probably be fairly modest, at best.
Manufacturing
Minnesota has been blessed in recent years with an industrial
base of rapidly growing industries such as computers and electronics,
and consequently, manufacturing activity in the state has grown more
rapidly than in the nation. If this trend continues to 1985, roughly
the same proportion of the state’s work force will be in manufacturing
as at the national level. In both the state and the nation about onefourth of the jobs will be in the secondary industries— manufacturing
and construction.




- 6 -

This convergence in manufacturing shares has happened fairly
rapidly, for as late as 1955 there were marked differences in industrial
structure. In that year a fifth of the state’s work force was still
employed in the primary industries, compared to only 11 percent at the
national level. Nationwide, manufacturing and construction activity
provided 31.7 percent of all employment; in Minnesota 20.1 percent of
the workers were employed in these secondary industries.
However, Minnesota’s pattern of development is by no means
unusual. Economies which are in the early stages of development typically
depend heavily on primary industries such as mining, forestry, and
agriculture for their employment base. As a region’s economy develops,
manufacturing comes to play a dominant role, with its share of employment
typically rising to more than 25 percent before leveling off or perhaps
even declining as the services sector gains in importance.
Total manufacturing employment in Minnesota grew at the annual
rate of 2.5 percent over the 1960-72 period. By 1972 Minnesota's manufacturing
employment totaled 307.5 thousand workers, or 19.3 percent of the state’s
total employment. Durables grew faster than nondurables— 3.6 percent
versus 1.3 percent, respectively.
Within the durable goods sector employment growth was most
rapid in the metal-fabricating and machinery manufacturing sectors.
Much of this expansion was in the rapidly-growing industries such as
computer electronics. Manufacturing employment in the wood and lumber
products industries declined.
The slow rate of growth in nondurables was due largely to
declining employment in the food and kindred products industries, which
make up about one-third of the state’s total employment in nondurables.
Publishing and printing was also a slow-growth industry over the decade
of the I9601s. The production of chemicals, on the other hand, expanded
rapidly, but still accounted for only 2 1/2 percent of manufacturing
employment by 1970.
The projected growth rate in total manufacturing employment to
1985 is 2.6 percent. Durables are expected to continue growing more
rapidly than nondurables— the anticipated rate of growth being 3.8
percent. The rate of growth in nondurables is expected to be only .7
percent per year.
As in the other sectors there are factors which complicate any
future projections— the main one here would seem to be the energy
crisis. The state is an importer of energy, and its harsh climate makes
it a relatively energy-intensive region. The question must be raised:
Will the high cost of energy put the state at a comparative disadvantage
relative to other regions? Evaluating the impact of high cost energy is
no easy task. True, we do import most of our energy, but except for
coal, the costs of transporting energy are not very great. The overall
energy-intensity of our industrial structure does not appear to be very




~ 7 -

great even though some specific industries such as food processing are
highly energy intensive. One thing does seem certain— the cost of
enjoying Minnesota1s good life is going to be greater in the future, and
because of this, it may take a higher wage structure to attract and hold
labor inputs in this area. On balance the state may suffer a disadvantage
relative to other regions, but we do not know how serious this disadvantage
will be.
Tertiary Industries
Among the trade, transportation, and other support industries,
the developments in the transportation sector may be the most significant.
Americans have long enjoyed the luxury of a highly personalized transportation
system but may now be moving toward a greater reliance on public transit
facilities. Environmentalists argue that the high social costs of our
system— pollution, noise, urban sprawl, etc.— vastly outweigh the private
benefits. In addition to the high social costs, the private costs of
transportation have soared in the past year, and this provides an incen­
tive for the expansion of public facilities. Future developments in
transportation will depend a choice we make as a society: Do we want to
expand our public facilities or continue to rely primarily on the automobile?
The figures on transportation employment in Table I and II
include only the employment in the private sector. The sector provided
3.6 percent of the state1s total employment in 1972, but over the 1960-72
period, employment was slowly declining. Host of the decline was in the
railroad industry; employment in trucking and other industries increased
at a modest pace. However, there is talk of a revival of rail travel in
the future, and the possible development of western coal reserves also
enhances the future of railroads.
Another support industry, the wholesale and retail trades,
provided more jobs for Minnesotans in 1972 than any other sector;
combined retail and wholesale employment totaled 332,000 persons. The
retail trades comprised one of the fastest growing sectors of the economy
over the past decade, having averaged 3.2 percent per year. The projected
rates of growth to 1985 are 2.7 percent in the retail trades and 1.4
percent in the wholesale trades. Both rates are slightly lower than
past trends, and this is consistent with the view that the economy will
slow down in the late 1970fs because of declining rates of population
growth.
A third important tertiary industry is the services sector.
The services sector has often been considered a growth area of the
economy. But this is not true of all service industries. The demand
for professional services has been growing rapidly, but an offsetting
factor has been the declining employment in household services and the
fall in the number of self-employed persons. Another offsetting factor
has been the consolidation and reorganization within the services sector
as the functions performed by small businesses have been taken over by
larger organizations. The demand for several types of services should




-

8

-

continue growing in the next few years for several reasons: First, the
anticipated growth in Minnesota population will continue to expand the
demand for personal services. Second, the expected increase in Minnesota
business activity will enhance the demand for business services. Third,
given that leisure time will continue to expand, consumers will have
more time to devote to service-oriented recreation and entertainment.
This factor is especially important to Minnesota with its outdoor
recreational amenities-fishing, hunting, skiing, boating, snowmobiling,
etc. Fourth, per capita incomes are expected to increase around 50
percent between 1972 and 1985, and expenditures on services are highly
responsive to changes in per capita income.
Government in the Economy
The scope of the public sector will broaden in coming years;
employment in government will increase rapidly.
There are two economic reasons to expect an expansion of the
government’s role. First, there will probably be an expansion in the
output of "public goods11 in the coming years. Public goods are those
goods which individuals cannot afford, but which communities can; these
goods are therefore most efficiently provided through the public sector.
Examples are parks, schools, theatres, policy services, and fire protection.
Some economists have aruged that in the past there has been an
overallocation of our resources to private goods at the expense of
public goods. Other economists disagree. At any rate it seems apparent
that expenditures on many existing public services will be increasing as
attempts are made to update or improve those services.
But beyond the increase in existing services, the scope of
government is broadening as areas which were formerly considered to be
the responsibility of the individual or family are bieng taken over by
government. Health care is one example; health services were once
considered to be private goods, but more and more they are being viewed
as a public good.
A second reason for the expanding role of government is the
increased need, to regular private economic activity. The economic
system has become highly complex and interrelated. Increasingly the
actions taken by one individual or firm result in external costs for
other individuals or firms, and government regulation, it is argued,
serves to more properly allocate these external costs. In environmental
areas, especially, the pervasiveness of external costs will likely
create a need for more government.
Employment in government in Minnesota increased from 133,100
to 246,000 in the 1957-72 period. Much of the growth was in the educational
area as more teachers were needed because of the burgeoning school age
population. Employment growth in education in the 1970fs will almost
certainly not keep pace with the rate of growth of the I9601s.




- 9 -

Projecting recent trends to 1985 means that employment in the
government sector will rise to 380,000 in that year. The annual rate of
growth is projected to be 3.4 percent, which is less rapid than the 4.2
percent growth rate of the I9601s.
Employment at the state and local level is expected to continue
expanding more rapidly than federal employment. For while the federal govern­
ment’s comparative advantage appears to lie in the collection of revenue and
in the formulation of general guidelines, the actual delivery of services
is perhaps accomplished most efficiently at the local level, primarily
because local officials are more likely to be aware of specific regional
needs.
The Regional Location of Economic Activity
In the future there is likely to be a further clustering of
industrial activity in the Twin Cities or in other scattered growth
centers around the state.
Again this reflects merely a continuation of current trends.
Most new industry has concentrated in a few areas. In particular there
has been a clustering of industry in and around the Metropolitan Region.
According to the 1970 census, better than 85 percent of the state's
manufacturing activity was located in the Metropolitan Region and the
three regions which surround it. About 85 percent of the metal-working
industries were in these regions, as were nearly 95 percent of the
state's nonelectrical machinery manufacturing, about 80 percent of its
food and kindred products industries, and nearly all of its electrical
machinery industry.
There are compelling reasons to suppose that industry will
continue to locate in only a few areas of the state. In determining
location, firms must consider the location of their inputs and the
location of their markets. Much manufacturing output is sold either as
inputs to other manufacturing firms or to final markets; in either case
the firm would be encouraged to locate near existing industrial or
population centers. Likewise, on the input side firms seek to locate
near existing labor markets or near their suppliers; this again encourages
the clustering1effect.
The only industry in which there has been a major dispersion
about the state is the food and kindred products industry. Because of
improved refrigeration technologies, firms can now locate nearer the
source of raw materials in rural areas. There has thus been a gain in
employment in the outstate areas and a decline in employment in the Twin
Cities. Even here, however, the industries have tended to relocate in
regions that are adjacent to the Twin Cities, thereby forming a secondary
manufacturing belt around the central market.
This does not argue, of course, that it is a desirable policy
for firms to cluster in a few central locations. Indeed there are a




- 10 -

number of programs which encourage firms to locate in rural areas, but
one senses that these programs have not been highly successful thus far.
How will the energy crisis affect the regional distribution of
economic activity? One argument is that rising transportation costs
will accelerate the regional clustering of economic activity. Small
towns which are dependent on energy-intensive industries may be hard hit
by rising energy costs. Future investments are likely to be more labor
intensive since labor is the main substitute for energy inputs, and this
might also result in the further clustering of economic activity near
existing population centers.
The Economic Environment in 1985
Economic change in Minnesota in the next decade will encompass
more than shifts in employment and gains in per capita income. Some
established institutions will be replaced by emerging institutions which
are more capable of dealing with existing social needs. Values, beliefs,
and mores are in flux, and evolutionary change is taking place in the
economy's legal foundations. Such changes permeate the entire social
structure; only a few will be noted here.
First, serious questions are being raised about the meaning
and purpose of economic growth. How much growth do we want? What
sectors or regions should be growing? How can we minimize the undesira­
ble impacts of economic growth? The manner in which these issues are
resolved will determine the patterns of economic development over the
coming decades. Since most people would agree that willy-nilly, undirected
growth is not in our best long-run interests, thre is an apparent need
for the coordination and planning of future growth, and new institutions
may emerge to fill that need. To some extent existing government units
such as the Economic Development Regions and the Metropolitan Council
may take on the coordination of regional development. In addition,
there is perhaps room for a closer alliance between business and government
in planning future economic growth.
A second fundamental change is that property rights are being
redefined. Traditionally the ownership of property carried with it the
right to use the property as one desired. However, in the future the
rights of owners may be increasingly restricted because of a greater
concern for the welfare of the community. Environmental constraints on
private firms are one example. Another is the growing need for zoning
and land-use regulation.
Third, attitudes toward work and leisure are changing dramatically,
and economic institutions will need to become more flexible in order to
accommodate these changing attitudes. Whereas workers once sought job
security, many younger workers seek flexibility and express a fear of
being locked into a position. They are also seeking greater satisfaction
from their work and are demanding more of an input into decision-making




- 11 -

processes. Leisure time is likely to continue increasing, and the ways
in which workers spend their leisure will influence the types of goods
and services which are produced 10 years from now.
Fourth, there will be subtle shifts in the locus of decision­
making power in coming years in both the private and public sectors.
Some activities formerly performed in the private sector will be shifted
into the public sector. On the other hand, the desire of local groups
for community control and more self-determination may result in more of
a citizen input into the administration of existing programs. In some
cases power may become more decentralized as when local officials ad­
minister federal programs; in other cases, the failure of local govern­
ments to deal effectively with social problems may lead to a centralization
of authority in Washington.
Fifth, despite a couple of false starts, the concept of the
negative income tax is still very much alive. The tax would put a floor
under the income level of every American. The proposal has much appeal
with those who would like to streamline the nation’s patchwork welfare
system, and there is a chance that some type of program will be enacted
in the next few years.
Sixth, there is the omnipresent energy crisis. For many
people the attractiveness of living in Minnesota lies in being able to
enjoy its amenities— its fishing, boating, and camping activities in the
summer and its skiing and snowmobiling activities in the winter. From
now on the cost of enjoying amenities will be increasing, and this may
affect the future growth of the labor force, as well as altering the
lifestyles of Minnesotans.
Finally, though its impact on our daily lives is not fully
understood, we cannot ignore the trend toward bigness in government,
education and business. We are, as Peter Drucker writes, a society
consisting of gigantic institutions. The trend toward bigness is
eclipsing the small businessman, the independent professional, the
craftsman, and the small farmer, and it seems fair to say that this
trend will probably continue through the next decade.
Such changes mean that the 1985 economy will be different—
perhaps radically different— from today’s economy. Undoubtably new
problems will arise as we adjust to rapid technological and social
change. Of the challenges now facing us, perhaps the greatest one is to
find ways of coping with rapid change in the context of a decentralized
economic system. Coordination is needed but the term economic planning
has typically been anathema to many Americans— it conjures up images of
politburos and stifling bureaucracies. We have taken pride in our
flexibility and in our ability to "muddle through.” Nonetheless, there
appears to be a growing need in our society for direction and purpose;
where that direction will come from is not yet clear.

Some Special Qualifications
Several factors which might produce significant deviations in
our employment projections should be noted.




- 12 -

Demographics
The principle demographic issues involve population size and
labor force participation rates. The trend projections make no explicit
allowance for the postwar baby boom "bubble" moving through the labor
force. This is causing the rate of growth in the labor force to accelerate
up to about 1980, but from 1980 to 1985 the growth rate falls sharply as
the "bubble" of children is absorbed into the labor force. The recent
sharp declines in birth rates will then lead to slower growth in both
the labor force and total population. These factors have been explicitly
introduced into the U.S. projections but not the Minnesota trend projections
of Table II.
Errors in projections of birth rates to 1985, of course, will
have little impact on the labor force projections since the 1985 labor
force is already born. However, family size could affect participation
rates, particularly females, and thereby affect the 1985 labor force.
This kind of error in the projections would likely be small, but a
potential tax law change could have more significant implications for
the 1985 labor force. This would be to allow "day care" kinds of expenses
as "business expenses" for tax purposes without any limit on income
eligibility.
Tastes
A significant shift in consumer tastes for "leisure" could
/iffeet the average hotim per employee (currently deellninK <U* about. 0.*>
percent per year), and thereby affect the rate of growth in total output.
Changes in tastes for "leisure products" could also affect the industrial
composition, but need not have a significant affect on total output.
Economic Policy
A variety of policy issues could have a significant impact on
the Minnesota economic environment in 1985 with regard to both magnitude
and dispersion.
First, relaxing the 4 percent unemployment rate as a definition
of full employment could affect the growth rate in total output and the
level of employment in 1985. Adoption of an income maintenance program
might provide some political stimulus for thinking along these lines.
Near term rates of inflation could also have a bearing on this issue.
Second, there appears to be an increasing concern among legislators
for the "middle income" persons. Exactly how this concern might manifest*
itself in action is not clear, but there does seem to be action of this
sort in the housing area. For example, if rehabilitation loans are
"subsidized," there could be significant effects on the rate of decay of
older neighborhoods. This would have further implications for the way
that urban areas develop, e.g., old neighborhoods might not be displaced
by high-rise development as extensively as in the recent past.




- 13 -

Finally, legislation such as that which provides for "Economic
Development Districts11 might induce a closer alliance between business
and government, and might also have significant implications for the way
that urban centers develop in the future.




Table I

Distribution of Employment by Industry:
U.S. and Minnesota (in percent)
Minnesota—^

Total Employment

U.S.—

1972

Change by
1985

1972

Change by
1985

100.0%

0

100.OZ

0

Government

15.4

+3.8

15.5

+2.0

Total Private

84.6

-3.8

84.5

-2.0

7.6

-4.1

4.0

-2.2

76.9

+0.4

80.4

+0.4

Mining

0.8

-0.3

0.8

-0.2

Construction

3.8

-0.3

5.1

-0.3

Manufacturing

19.3

+2.4

22.5

-0.7

10.7

+3.4

13.0

+0.2

Nondurable

8.6

-1.0

9.6

-0.9

Transportation, Com­
munications , and
Public Utilities

5.4

-1.4

5.5

-0.5

Transpor tation

3.6

-1.1

3.3

-0.3

Communications &
Public Utilities

1.9

-0.4

2.2

-0.2

20.9

+0.8

21.5

-0.7

5.2

-0.1

4.9

-0.1

15.6

+1.1

16.6

-0.6

4.2

+0.3

5.0

+0.5

22.5

-1.3

20.0

+2.2

Agriculture
Nonagriculture

Durable

Trade
Wholesale
Retail
Finance, Insurance
and Real Estate
Services

—^Minnesota projections are taken from Table II.

2/

— U.S. data and projections are from Table 9 in: Ronald E. Kutscher, "The
United States Economy in 1985 Projections of GNP, Income, Outlook, and
Employment1' Monthly Labor Review (December 1973), pp. 27-42.




Table II

Minnesota Employment Projections to 1985
Actual
(thousands)
1972

Projected—^
1985

Annuals.
Growth—
Rate

Civilian Work Force

1690.5

2060

1.5

Total Employment

1593.1

1980

1.7

246.0

380

3.4

1347.1

1600

1.3

121.6

70

-4.2

1225.5

1530

1.7

Mining

13.0

10

-2.0

Construction

60.0

70

1.2

Manufacturing

307.5

430

2.6

Durable

170.9

280

3.9

Nondurable

136.7

150

0.7

Transportation, Com
munications, and
Public Utilities

86.6

80

-0.6

Transportation

56.7

50

-1.0

Communications
and Public
Utilities

29.9

30

0.0

332.3

430

2.0

83.2

100

1.4

249.1

330

2.2

67.2

90

2.3

358.9

420

1.2

Government
Total Private
Agriculture
Nonagriculture

Trade
Wholesale
Retail
Finance, Insurance
and Real Estate
Services

—^These projections are based on least-squares estimates of trend rates of growth
with subjective adjustments to insure consistency.

2/

— Annual rate of growth, compounded annually, between 1972 and 1985.







DEVELOPMENT REGIONS
MINNESOTA

DISTRIBUTION OF EMPLOYMENT BY INDUSTRY






REGIONS

ECONOMIC DE VEl OPMEN T REGIONS

DISTRIBUTION OF EMPLOYMENT
BY INDUSTRY IN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

LO

CN

c\T
00




CN
CM

CO
CD

CO
LO

cT

o
00
id
00

00
CD
CN

CD

LO

00

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CD
CO

00
cn

^r
co

n

r—
, CN

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00

CD

K
<:
Mj
o 5
0.
§ O *■
—
o
c5
<:
5
o
o Uj Uj
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CD
LO*
CO

yj

CO

CN
CO
CN
LO
CO

n
LO

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CD
LO
CN
00

O
CD

0
CO

n
CO

CN

7 Data for Regions 7F and 7VV has not het?n disacjyreyjted

1970 Consul of Population

O
<J>

Source

MINNESOTA EMPLOYMENT BY ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT REGION

r-




Uj
O
o:
Uj

V.

CO

3
O

Primal y

Tertiary.

Secondary
All O t h e r s

Manufacturing

A gr i c ul t ur e * and

and

ConstriK

Mirnutj
tion

MINNESOTA EMPLOYMENT SHARES BY BROAD AGGREGATE