Twin Cities leads Midwest in economic recovery

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The Twin Cities economy is faring better than the other major metropolitan areas in the Midwest.

That's according to new data from the U.S. Department of Commerce.

Minneapolis-St. Paul's economic output grew 1.5 percent between 2008 and 2011, while Chicago, Detroit and most of the region's other big cities lost ground.

The Star Tribune reports (http://bit.ly/YJAFaU ) unemployment in Minneapolis-St. Paul is at 5.1 percent, compared with a national average of 7.9 percent.

The $207.8 billion economy of the Twin Cities accounts for about three-quarters of Minnesota's economic output. Before the downturn from 2001 to 2007, the area's economy grew at an average rate of 1.9 percent, a pace of growth to which it returned in 2011.

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