"Listen up America. "Unemployment is 3.8% in North Dakota, and according to a Gallup survey last month, North Dakota has the best job market in the country. Its economy "sticks out like a diamond in a bowl of cherry pits," says Ron Wirtz, editor of the Minneapolis Fed's newspaper. The state's population, slightly more than 672,000, is up nearly 5% since 2000. The biggest impetus for the good times lies with energy development. Around 650 wells were drilled last year in North Dakota, and the state Department of Mineral Resources envisions another 5,500 new wells over the next two decades. Between 2005 and 2009, oil industry revenues have tripled to $12.7 billion from $4.2 billion, creating more than 13,000 jobs. (Yes, that is correct. Real jobs are being created.) Oil also is the principal reason North Dakota enjoys arguably the best fiscal situation in all the fifty states. (Wow!) Perhaps more surprising, North Dakota is also attracting high-tech.
What accounts for the state's success? Dakotans didn't bet the farm, so to speak, on solar cells, high-density housing or high-speed rail. Taxes are moderate—the state ranks near the middle in terms of tax per capita, according to the Tax Foundation—and North Dakota is a right-to-work state, which makes it attractive to new employers, especially in manufacturing. But the state's real key to success is doing the first things first—such as producing energy, food and specialized manufactured goods for which there is a growing, world-wide market. This is what creates the employment and wealth that can support environmental protection and higher education." Well done Dakotans!!!!!
Read the full article, which is in today's Wall Street Journal.
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