Even a state hard at work can't shake hard times

A strong penchant for work -- any work -- buffered Minnesota against the latest economic recession, but the state still saw household incomes shrink, home values plummet and poverty rise last year, according to new U.S. census data.

The Twin Cities "employment ratio'' ranked first out of 50 large metropolitan areas, with 74.8 percent of working-age adults holding jobs in 2010. Minnesota as a whole ranked fifth among states with an employment ratio of 74.3 percent, compared with a national rate of 66.6 percent.

Read more in the Minneapolis Star Tribune.