Meanwhile, back in booming Minnesota

Happy days are here again:

Golden Valley-based General Mills, buffeted by weak sales, revealed the job cuts late Tuesday in a filing with federal securities regulators. The head count reduction will primarily be in the United States, the filing said. General Mills employs about 5,000 in the Twin Cities, mostly in white-collar positions.

General Mills spokeswoman Kirstie Foster said in an e-mail that the new cuts include “salaried positions in General Mills’ U.S. businesses, and the functions and groups that support those businesses.” She said the company did not yet know how jobs in Minnesota would affected.

The 700 to 800 job cuts will be completed by next spring and will lead to annual cost savings of $125 million to $150 million, the securities filing said. Tuesday’s moves include $40 million of the $140 million in cuts that General Mills has announced in recent months.

The disconnect between rhetoric and reality concerning the economy continues to grow.