Friday, June 03, 2011
It may not be as alluring as California in some respects, but North Dakota has something that would make millions of Californians envious: jobs.
Bismarck and Fargo have the lowest unemployment rates in the nation: 2.9% and 3.7%, respectively. Things are so rosy in North Dakota that local leaders are now recruiting potential employees from Minnesota because the state can’t find enough skilled labor to fill its 17,000 openings.
The same cannot be said for California. Of the 12 cities with the highest jobless rates, 11 of them are in the Golden State. Leading the way with the nation’s highest unemployment is El Centro—27.9%. Second is Yuma, Arizona (25.3%), followed by Yuba City, California (20.2%).
-Noel Brinkerhoff
Metropolitan Area Employment and Unemployment —April 2011 (Bureau of Labor Statistics) (pdf)
North Dakota Trolls for Minnesota Workers (by Dee DePass, Minneapolis Star Tribune)
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