North Dakota labor markets are going to be a key to deciding the future course of the economy in the state. I discuss the big picture for just a few measures and it is not great news.
North Dakota Labor Update
ND Wages and Unemployment Benefits
I take a look at the local data and the issue of the level of benefits compared to local wages.
Different Looks at Initial Claims in ND
I offer up some other ways to look at the scale of the problem of unemployment claims in North Dakota in the hopes of helping policy discussions.
Whatever is reported for ND unemployment rate, the real number is worse.
Economic statistics are unable to keep up with the pace of change right now, so I tried to come up with a more accurate picture of the unemployment situation in North Dakota.
Updated Occupational Distribution Data, 9 April 2020
With a new initial claims observation for North Dakota I updated the data and the calculations and provide the cumulative numbers through the last observation and the current observation.