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MP:

Williston (ND) Herald -- The latest numbers from Job Service North Dakota’s Labor Market Information Center report that Williams County has the lowest unemployment rate in the state, and perhaps the lowest in the entire United States. September numbers, which are the most recent available, put Williams County at a staggeringly-low 0.9 percent.

“In my words, it’s unbelievable,” Williston Workforce Development Coordinator Shawn Wenko said. “I’ve never in my life heard of an unemployment rate that low.”

Note: Williston, North Dakota is at the center of the energy-boom Bakken region of North Dakota.

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-iAlhI5mkxaE/TrdWmhdL8II/AAAAAAAAQKc/dt-BeUCF5Tw/s1600/nd.jpg

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PeakTrader said...

If the country had a real economic recovery, from less regulation, more tax cuts, and less government spending, the energy industry would've help fuel a virtuous cycle of consumption-employment, and reduced budget deficits, because oil prices would be higher, until enough supply is on-line.

The low unemployment rate suggests wage or compensation increases more than offset any cost of living increases.

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AIG said...

Williams country has a population of...22,000. Thats about half the student population of the University of Michigan.

Lets keep things in perspective.

All the spikes in that chart tell me that what we are dealing with is a workforce which probably engages in a lot of "fluid" jobs; farming, trucking, mining etc. The dynamics of such an economy are pretty different from other areas of the country.

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PeakTrader said...

AIG, the chart shows stable employment, with little frictional unemployment, over the past 10 years, because the unemployment rate has been below 4%.

Also, there's a "spillover effect," which benefits the entire economy.

When employment and wages rise in a region, consumption rises, and the higher level of consumption won't be limited to the region.

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AIG said...

Peak, I'm not denying anything you said there. Though I'm not sure how you don't see frictional unemployment in that chart, given what appears to be a lot of seasonal effects going on there. But thats not very relevant, anyway. My only comment was that what is going on in North Dakota isn't anything surprising, at all.

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PeakTrader said...

AIG, because the county is so small, as you said, there may be just a couple of guys causing the variance in the unemployment rate.

Also, I'm sure, there's some overtime involved to adjust for seasonality, particularly with such a low unemployment rate.

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PeakTrader:

It seems, any GOP candidate can beat Obama, given the economy seems to be locked-into a Rolling Depression and Obama doesn't want to move to the center, like Clinton.

Of course, some people believe in the absurd, like Obama is doing a satisfactory job with the economy, or they can calculate the inflation rate better than the BLS with incomplete information at best.