After the third quarter of 2009, all three Cook County tourism associations had lost ground on 3% lodging tax income from last year at the same time.
As of October 31, the Gunflint Trail Tourism Association was down 8.1% (although some lodging establishments had not sent their reports in yet). The Lutsen-Tofte Tourism Association was down 11.4%. The Grand Marais Area Tourism Association fared best with a decrease of .4% from last year (based on those establishments that had reported so far).
According to the Missouri Economic Research and Information Center, 31 states had cost of living indexes lower than Minnesota as of the third quarter of this year. Minnesota’s cost of living index was 102.8.
According to the U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics, the nationwide Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers was 1.6% lower at the end of this October than it was a year ago. Median weekly earnings for full-time workers had gone up 2.5% since the third quarter of 2008.
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