NEWS for North Dakotans
Agriculture Communication, North Dakota State University
7 Morrill Hall, Fargo, ND 58105-5665

October 22, 1998

Personal Income Off in North Dakota Last Year

North Dakota, with its 0.7-percent decline in personal income last year, was the only state to register a loss. Personal income in North Dakota totaled $12.95 billion in 1997, down from $13.1 billion in 1996, according to the latest Economic Brief released from the North Dakota State Data Center at North Dakota State University.

A dramatic decrease in farm earnings was the primary reason for North Dakota's 1997 dip in total personal income, says Richard Rathge, data center director. As a result of disease, weather, and low prices, farm earnings dropped to $233 million in 1997—down 74 percent from $882 million in 1996.

The largest nonfarm income sector in 1997 was the service industry, representing more than one-fourth of North Dakota's nonfarm income.

North Dakota's fastest growing nonfarm industry from 1991 through 1997 was manufacturing, followed by finance, insurance and real estate. The industry experiencing the greatest fluctuation in nonfarm earnings during that period was mining, whose earnings rose 17.7 percent.

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[EDITORS: FOR A BREAKDOWN OF NORTH DAKOTA'S TOTAL PERSONAL INCOME BY MAJOR SOURCE AND EARNINGS BY INDUSTRY, 1991-1997, SEE YELLOW PUBLICATION FOLLOWING THIS STORY, "TOTAL PERSONAL INCOME BY MAJOR SOURCE AND EARNINGS BY INDUSTRY NORTH DAKOTA, 1991-1997." THIS PUBLICATION IS ALSO AVAILABLE FROM THE STATE DATA CENTER, BOX 5636, NDSU, FARGO, ND 58105]

Source: Karen Olson (701) 231-1060

Editor: Dean Hulse (701) 231-6136

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