The painful economy has not only cost jobs in Minnesota, it may also be connected to the decline in the number of babies born in the state.  State Demographer Tom Gillaspy says the birth rate has dropped significantly since the onset of the recession in 2008.  He says between 2008 and 2009 there were four-thousand fewer babies born compared to in 2007.  Gillaspy says the decrease in births is a nationwide trend and should start to rise as the economy improves.