It is a fun time to be an economist with an interest in data, and it has nothing to do with election policies because, as we all know, those have nothing to do with data anyway (zing!). The Bureau of Economic Analysis released its GDP by Metro Area report this week (available here). The first…
North Dakota Employment Grows Slightly Despite Oil Slowdown
With North Dakota’s oil boom fading everyone is watching the state’s economy closely. The slowdown in oil and gas activity has hit the state’s revenues hard, but it can be hard to see too much difference in the state’s labor market. Today North Dakota Job Service issued its most recent jobs report. The state’s seasonally…
North Dakota Still Has More Job Openings Than Unemployed People
Yesterday a poll of North Dakotans conducted towards the end of February showed a more than 20 shift in how citizens perceive the direction of the state, from “right track” to “wrong track.” That’s a big shift, but it’s a shift worth putting into perspective. Even with the oil boom fading, and agriculture prices in…
David Flynn: Rumors Of North Dakota’s Recession Are Exaggerated
What better way to start a discussion about a mistaken declaration of recession in North Dakota than with a misquote of Twain. For those interested the actual quote from Twain was “The report of my death was an exaggeration.” We have to be very careful here and define terms well to have a meaningful discussion…
David Flynn: Oil Is Still A Big Part Of North Dakota’s Economy
I am often asked about the relative position of oil and other industries in the ND economy. Usually this is me being asked to settle a dispute between industries as to who is more important or some such nonsense. However, the issue of oil in the North Dakota economy is worth revisiting right now given…
David Flynn: Would You Give Up North Dakota’s Economic Highs To Avoid The Lows?
A caller to the radio show last week questioned why the North Dakota economic experience seemed is such stark contrast to the Minnesota situation. (She asked this while almost getting hit by a school bus breaking traffic laws.) There are a couple of reasons for this, one pretty easy to explain on the radio, and the…
North Dakota Has Highest “Good Jobs Rate” For Third Year In A Row
Per Gallup, the good jobs rate “tracks the percentage of the U.S. adult population aged 18 and older who are employed full time for an employer for at least 30 hours per week.” North Dakota, for the third straight year, had the highest rate in the nation at 51.5 percent. Minnesota was 4th at 49.5…
North Dakota Still Has More Job Openings Than Unemployed People
According to the November job openings report from North Dakota Job Service (see below), the number of job openings listed in the state is down over 21 percent compared to November last year. “Online job openings totaled 15,901 open and available positions in November 2015,” the report states. “Openings were lower by 4.7 percent (-783)…
David Flynn: North Dakota’s Oil Boom Has Slowed Not Busted
I am making a presentation to a group of retired UND faculty this morning on the topic of oil and the North Dakota economy. It is more of a free-flowing discussion than a chalk-and-talk format so I will add interesting comments later after I hear them. Oil is clearly a transformative event in the North…
How North Dakota’s Unemployment Benefits Doubled Even As The Unemployment Rate Stayed The Same
Earlier today I wrote about a Bureau of Economic Analysis report showing that the amount of unemployment benefits paid out in North Dakota had more than doubled in the last quarter. Yet, even as that’s happening, the state hasn’t seen a spike in the unemployment rate. In fact, according to the September jobs report from…
