Scott Anderson, director and senior economist with Wells Fargo, gave a keynote speech at the Brainerd Lakes Area Economic Development Corp. annual meeting that was optimistic about the state of the economy.

The message concerning the economy was hopeful at the Brainerd Lakes Area Economic Development Corp. (BLAEDC) annual meeting Tuesday, Feb. 22, at The Lodge at Brainerd Lakes in Baxter.

The meeting focused partly on businesses in the Brainerd lakes area that are doing well in the current economy, including MicroNet, Inc./ChamberMaster and Landis+Gyr in Pequot Lakes.

For 2010, BLAEDC cited its accomplishments, which included more than 10 projects, 130 jobs projected to be created and 220 jobs retained with BLAEDC's help.

BLAEDC served 43 new start-up businesses and helped retain or expand 62 businesses last year.

Accomplishments to date have provided $117 million per year in wages and $3.5 million per year in local property taxes, according to BLAEDC's annual report.

While BLAEDC officials are hopeful about the local economic outlook, keynote speaker Scott Anderson, director and senior economist at Wells Fargo, said the outlook for the nation and Minnesota was slow and getting stronger.

Anderson has 15 years of experience in macroeconomics and was named one of the top 10 economic forecasters by U.S.A. Today. In his job, Anderson is responsible for forecasting regional, national and global trends in the economy.

Anderson started his speech by noting where the economy has been in recent years.

"It doesn't take a PhD in economics to tell you that the last three years have been very hard times. The recovery has been almost as rough as the recession, but I look forward to the future," Anderson said.

Economists watch many indicators to determine the state of the economy, he said, and many of those indicators are showing progress.

One of the biggest indicators of the economic state is job growth.

"We are on the verge of seeing job growth. I expect to see job growth accelerating and stronger job growth in 2011," Anderson said.

So far we have been experiencing a jobless recovery, he said. The U.S. economy lost 8.4 million jobs over the last three years and only created one million new jobs in the last six quarters.

"We are in another jobless recovery like the one we experienced in 1991. The good news, though, is that I think we will create 2 million jobs in 2011, and they will be private sector jobs," Anderson said.

Some sectors that are experiencing job growth currently are manufacturing and, recently, the service industry.

Hand-in-hand with job growth goes the decrease in jobless claims in terms of economic indicators.

Anderson said there are fewer people applying for jobless claims, but when everything is taken into account, including underemployment and those who have stopped looking for jobs, the unemployment rate is approximately 16 percent.

"We are still dealing with the aftermath, and there are still too many people unemployed," Anderson said.

Another indicator Anderson noted as good news is that U.S. consumer spending went up 4.4 percent in the fourth quarter in 2010.

"This is the best growth rate that we have seen in five years, and that is very positive," he said.

Other positive signs include the stock market rebound, continued low interest rates and people's ability to recuperate some of their wealth that was lost in the stock market.

A worry to economists is the continued slump in the housing market and the current federal budget deficit.

When all things are considered, Anderson said the economic outlook for 2011 was better than it has been in recent years.

"Overall, we are cautiously optimistic. We are seeing slow but stable growth, and that growth is getting stronger," he said.