NEWS for North Dakotans
Agriculture Communication, North Dakota State University
7 Morrill Hall, Fargo, ND 58105-5665
July 20, 2000
Total personal income in North Dakota rose 9.1 percent to $14.6 billion in 1998, up from $13.4 billion in 1997, according to the latest Economic Brief released from the North Dakota State Data Center at North Dakota State University. On a percentage basis, this gain was the largest in the nation for the period.
"The income gains among residents in North Dakota between 1997 and 1998 are a result of a number of important factors," says Richard Rathge, data center director.
A key reason for the spurt in North Dakota’s total personal income was the increase in farm earnings, which rose to $564 million in 1998, up from a minus $42 million in 1997.
"Much of the increase in farm earnings was due to federal farm payments," Rathge explains. "North Dakota farmers received nearly $21 million more in federal farm payments in 1998 than they did in 1997."
In addition, post flood activity expanded construction by nearly $50 million and retail trade by $29 million. But the largest non-farm income sector in 1998 was the service industry, again capturing more than one-quarter of North Dakota’s non-farm income. The government sector was close behind at 22 percent of non-farm income, Rathge says.
Within North Dakota, the fastest growing non-farm industry between 1994 and 1998 was construction, Rathge says, followed by finance, insurance and real estate.
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Source: Richard Rathge (701) 231-8621
Editor: Dean Hulse (701) 231-6136
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