North Dakota economy revs as nation’s plods along; state seeks workers for job vacancies

ND economy booms as nation’s plods along

BISMARCK, N.D. — A state long ridiculed as cold and inconsequential stands as an economic hot spot within a nation suffering from its worst economic downturn in decades.

Holy buckets! Could it be that North Dakota is the nation’s shining example of economic sure-footedness? Yah, you betcha, state officials say.

North Dakota is beginning the decade boasting a sturdy economy, a state government budget surplus, more jobs than takers and its highest population in a decade.

“That’s a good thing,” said Gov. John Hoeven. “But the biggest concern for our economy moving forward — and our biggest challenge — is the drag of the national economy on our economy.”

A monthly analysis of economic stress by The Associated Press found that North Dakota in November was the least economically troubled state in the nation. With the nation’s unemployment rate hovering at about 10 percent, North Dakota has about 8,000 unfilled jobs and the lowest jobless rate of any state, at about 4 percent.

“We’ve been buffered from the national experience,” Richard Rathge, the state Data Center director and North Dakota demographer. “I don’t think we recognize the pain the rest of the nation is going through.”

North Dakota’s economic growth is led by agriculture and energy but the state has made leaps in other industries, such as health care and technology, Rathge said.

“We’ve been growing and diversifying our economy and pulling away from things that limited our options in the past,” Rathge said.

“A strong economy is about having a good variety of jobs,” Republican Gov. John Hoeven said. “We’ve really worked at diversifying our economy — that’s one of the reasons we’re doing better and have opportunities for people.”

The state’s healthy economy has trickled down to even the smallest of businesses, including Dianne Aull’s tiny juice bar in Bismarck.

“I think we’re lucky in that we have an economy that seems to be alive,” said Aull, a North Dakota native who opened the business four years ago.

She said even frugal North Dakotans don’t seem phased by dropping several dollars on a smoothie.

“We’re doing amazingly well,” Aull said. “Our business is growing.”

Census Bureau figures show North Dakota is entering the decade with its highest population since 2000. The bureau’s most recent estimate put North Dakota’s population at 646,844. It was the first time this decade that the state’s population surpassed the 2000 count of 642,200.

Residents had been moving out of North Dakota for years, Rathge said.

“We lost people the first part of the decade and they started coming back in the second part of the decade,” Rathge said. “The economy really didn’t kick in until mid-decade.”

No matter how strong the economy, North Dakota is still a tough sell to many outsiders, who view the state as a frigid and foreboding.

“Historically, attracting workers to North Dakota hasn’t been that successful,” Rathge said. “I think as time goes on that will be more problematic.”

Nearly 100 companies are looking for people to work in the state’s oil patch, said Ron Ness, president of the Bismarck-based North Dakota Petroleum Council, which represents about 160 companies. North Dakota went from the nation’s ninth-largest oil producer in 2006 to its fourth-largest today, but a shortage of workers has slowed oil exploration and production, he said.

“There are literally hundreds of job openings and it’s growing,” Ness said.

Beth Zander, a Job Service North Dakota spokeswoman, said the number of available jobs has grown faster than the state’s population in recent years. The biggest need is in health care, where there are some 1,200 jobs with no takers at present, she said.

North Dakota officials have hosted job fairs in several cities in an attempt to lure people to the state.

About 100 families have been identified as moving to North Dakota through those efforts, state Commerce Commissioner Shane Goettle said. The state targeted many former North Dakotans to move back, he said.

“Former North Dakotans are sort of low-hanging fruit,” Goettle said. “They are our most likely candidates but not our only candidates.”

North Dakota to outsiders is often considered frigid and foreboding. But Goettle believes the state’s booming economy will have people warming up to it.

“Whatever the image people have of North Dakota, I think people move for opportunity,” Goettle said. “With the lack of opportunity in other places, I think we are going to see that movement.”