There are several US data series worth paying attention to this week for the data inclined person in North Dakota. At the U.S. level we will get private housing starts for August. Housing is an interesting US and North Dakota issue so national trends certainly bear watching.

There will be oil market volatility to scrutinize. The situation in the Middle East is heating up, obviously, and that matters for North Dakota and the US is ways different than 20 years ago. Higher prices will encourage increased production in places like the Bakken and the Permian Basin but labor constraints make it less than a foregone conclusion that we will see increased production from those formations.

I think another area of interest in this regard will be exchange rates. The US dollar is in a different position than in previous decades. The dollar is still pre-eminent but in new ways, such as in oil markets due to US exports. Exchange rate movements can be important, at the margin, for factors like retail trade and sales in North Dakota.

I am still working on demographic data for the state and sub areas within the state as well so lots to do and likely lots to discuss this week.