>> AND THEY PICKED UP BETTER BETTER HOURS, THEY PICKED UP BETTER PAY, THEY'VE ACTUALLY PICKED UP BENEFITS SO THERE'S A LOT OF SHIFT OING ON.

SO I'D -- SIMPLY A GOOD NUMBER AND IT'S A WONDERFUL THING AND WE ARE SEEING MORE AND MORE PEOPLE GETTING JOBS.

>> Eric: KIND OF TROUBLING, THOUGH, THAT BLACK UNEMPLOYMENT IS UP OVER 7% AND RISING.

-- NOT DOING ENOUGH TO ATTRACT WORKERS OF COLOR?

WHAT'S GOING ON THERE?

>> BOTH OF THOSE THINGS -- IDENTIFIED.

SO ONE IS -- YOU NEED TO COMPLETE HIGH SCHOOL AND WE HAVE [ AUDIO CUTTING OUT ] AND STUDENTS OF COLOR IN TERMS OF THEIR COMPLETION RATES AND THAT'S KIND OF A CUTOFF -- IF YOU DON'T HAVE A HIGH SCHOOL DIPLOMA YOU'VE GOT -- THE OTHER THING IS THE COMPANY'S REACHING OUT.

THEY NEED TO DO A BETTER JOB OF ACTUALLY FINDING -- >> Eric: EMPLOYMENT, RIGHT?

AND THEY DON'T HAVE QUITE THAT NETWORK OF FOLKS TO HIRE THEM.

>> NO, BUT HERE'S THE THING.

THERE ARE PEOPLE OUT THERE -- [ AUDIO CUTTING OUT ] >> Cathy: ALL GOOD NEWS THAT WE'VE HEARD HERE SO FAR.

-- MORE OR LESS.

BUT I THINK THE LABOR MARKET MIGHT BE COOLING A LITTLE BIT.

IS THAT TRUE?

>> WELL, T DEPENDS WHERE YOU LOOK.

SO IN MINNESOTA IT'S NOT -- CLEARLY WE'VE GOT THIS LOW UNEMPLOYMENT RATE.

DEPENDING ON WHERE -- IN DIFFERENT SECTORS OF THE ECONOMY YOU DO SEE IT COOLING DOWN A BIT.

[ AUDIO CUTTING OUT ] >> LESS COMPETITIVE, IT'S MAKING IMPORTS MORE COMPETITIVE AND SO SOME OF THE MANUFACTURING JOBS AND THINGS LIKE THAT, THAT'S STARTING TO SOFTEN A LITTLE BIT.

BUT IN MINNESOTA, NO, WE'RE NOT REALLY HAVING A PROBLEM WITH THAT.

>> WAGES ARE UP I THINK 5% JUNE OR JUNE, BUT INFLATION IS 9% SO THE WAGES AREN'T KEEPING UP?

>> RIGHT.

SO AND WAGE GROWTH IS SLOWING DOWN.

BUT HERE THERE IS -- OKAY, I'M GOING TO PUT SOME GOOD NEWS IN HERE, I'M SORRY, I JUST HAD TO DO THAT, CATHY.

>> TOTALLY FINE.

>> WHEN YOU LOOK LAT LOWER WAGE WORKERS UP UNTIL RECENTLY UP UNTIL THE -- THEIR WAGES WERE MATCHING -- THAT'S NO LONGER TRUE.

BUT SO THE PEOPLE AND, >> A LOT OF PEOPLE WERE ACTUALLY PUSHED OUT OF THE LABOR MARKET EARLIER THAN THEY WANTED TO BE PUSHED OUT.

AND NOW [ AUDIO SKIPPING ] I DON'T HAVE TO GO BACK FULL TIME -- >> Cathy: SO I'M WONDERING THEN TOO, WITH THE NUMBER THAT WE'RE SEEING, DO YOU WORRY ABOUT A [ AUDIO CUT OUT ] A RECESSION?

>> -- STILL -- END OF THE YEAR, MAYBE A LITTLE HIGHER AFTER, BUT I DON'T SEE IT RIGHT NOW.

I JUST DON'T.

SO THE FEAR IS THAT THE FED GOES TOO FAR.

SO THE FEDERAL -- AND IT'S THEIR BIG MEETING AND THEY'RE GOING TO RAISE THEIR BENCHMARK INTEREST RATE BY THREE-QUARTERS OF A PERCENTAGE POINT.

SO THAT'S THE SECOND ONE THEY'VE DONE IN A ROW.

THE QUESTION IS HAS THE FED GONE TOO FAR?

BUT WHAT YOU CAN SAY IS THE ECONOMY IS SLOWING DOWN, CONSUMERS ARE PULLING BACK A LITTLE BIT.

BUT BUSINESSES ARE STILL GOOD IN HIRING AND NOT LAYING OFF WORKERS AND THE -- RECESSION IS BASICALLY A READING OF HISTORY.

THE FED USUALLY GOES TOO FAR.

AND BECAUSE MONETARY -- WITH THE 3.6 UNEMPLOYMENT RATE AND 1.8% IN MINNESOTA, WE SLOWED DOWN BUT WE DON'T GO INTO RECESSION.

I