Earlier today, Dan asked “What’s the Matter With Kansas“? The answer is, of course: NOTHING.
The same question & answer go for the booming state of North Dakota. In that case it is ENERGY that is fueling the state’s employment.
When it comes to creating jobs, North Dakota has found the right formula. The state has the largest percentage increase in employment over the past year and was the fastest of all 50 to recover from the recession.
The reason is simple: energy production.
“North Dakota has been the poster child for what can happen when we unleash free enterprise and allow states to develop and commercialize their resources,” Heritage’s Nick Loris wrote recently on The Foundry. “North Dakota is drilling at record pace.”
The state’s unemployment rate is 3.4 percent, the lowest in the country. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported this week that North Dakota added 17,300 new jobs over the past year, which represented a 4.5 percent increase — the largest in the United States.
Showing them all up: Texas.
-Bruce (GayPatriot)
The oil boom in ND does have it down side. With my roots in Montana, and family in eastern Montana and ND, stories have been shared of how disruptive the boom has been. Folk love the money but hate what it is doing to their schools, the medical community and despise some of the harsh living conditions.
One family who has been in the oil industry since the 80’s shared that workers are welcome but proof of housing is now a requirement.
Folk have been living in tent cities and the living conditions make some of the Occupy sites look like Eden. People wait in grocery lines for over an hour, and often walk out of the store short on their list because the area has grown so much.
from the Bismark Tribune http://bismarcktribune.com/news/opinion/editorial/housing-remains-the-unsolved-issue/article_fa9e80e6-2be6-11e1-ae76-001871e3ce6c.html
The locals are just seeing how all the transplants handle the pending weather. Williston has a semi-arid climate (Köppen climate classification BSk). It is listed among the top 25 coldest cities in the United States
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Williston,_North_Dakota
There are folk from Prudhoe Bay who have tried ND but find working and living conditions better up on the slope
I lived in Odessa, TX (Permian Basin, Friday Night Lights) during the 80s oil boom and while there were lots of jobs, it had its downside (Odessa’s homicide rate was higher than Dallas and (I think) Houston).
And when the boom ended, we darn near “blowed away in the wind”.
I think it would be interesting to factor in “choice.” North Dakota and Kansas aren’t states where the average person chooses to move to the state, like, say, California, Florida, Oregon, New York, North Carolina, etc. In one instance, you have states with a low demand for residency; in others, the opposite. I purport the playing fields aren’t exactly level to make a parallel comparison, when you have states with a huge difference in demographic manageability.
I don’t discount the merits of the last two posts. There is plenty to be said in relation to efficiency and how one goes about maximizing their resources. I only ask you to consider the different challenges every state must face.
I lived thru the Depression which lasted for me up to 50s. If I were a young man today, and since I am living in California I would probably be unemployed, North Dakota would look awfully good to me.
John R >> You’d be in a minority, as the greatest inter-state migration growth favors coastal and southwestern states. North Dakota is in the bottom 50 percentile, a couple of rungs above Kansas.
Good to see some eye opening comments from 1 & 2. It proves that it’s not always about the money. I just hope the folks who are working these jobs know that it’s mostly like temporary and they’re socking it away for when this boom ends and they move on.