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November 3, 2005 2003 Saw Slight Growth in the Number of North Dakota Business Establishments The number of businesses in North Dakota totaled 20,459 in 2003, up 0.2 percent from 20,422 establishments in 2002. This month’s “Economic Briefs,” a monthly publication from the North Dakota State Data Center at North Dakota State University, focuses on the number of North Dakota businesses, business employees and annual payroll as released in “County Business Patterns,” a U.S. Census Bureau publication issued annually. The number of businesses in the state has remained relatively stable since the early 1990s. In contrast, the number of business employees rose consistently during the 1990s. “Unfortunately, we do not have detailed data that will allow us to determine how much of the employee growth during the 1990s was due to business expansion and how much was due to increased part-time work or multiple job holders,” says Richard Rathge, State Data Center director. Business employment for the state as of mid-March 2003 was 258,940, up 2 percent from 253,980 in mid-March 2002. Annual total payroll for the state was $6.9 billion in 2003, up 5.3 percent from $6.6 billion in 2002. This resulted in an annual payroll per business employee of $26,662 in 2003, up 3.3 percent from $25,805 the year before. Nationally, the annual payroll per business employee averaged $35,635 in 2003. The service industry employs a large proportion of North Dakota’s business work force. Health care and social assistance alone employed 19.8 percent in 2003. Accommodation and food services accounted for another 10.3 percent. “This is a sector, I think, will greatly expand over the next decade as our state becomes more integrated into the information age,” Rathge says. “The economic contribution of the service sector doubled in North Dakota over the past 20 years, outpacing all other industries. This growth trend will likely continue.” Nevada reported the largest percentage gain in business establishments between 2002 and 2003 (3.8 percent), followed by Utah, Montana and Idaho (2.6 percent each). Eight states reported losses (Connecticut, Tennessee, Ohio, West Virginia, Michigan, Kansas, Mississippi and Alabama). The businesses included in this report are those covered by the Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA). Self-employed people, domestic service workers, railroad employees, agricultural production workers and most government employees are excluded. For more information, visit www.census.gov/epcd/cbp/view/cbpview.html. ### Source:
Richard Rathge, (701) 231-8621, Richard.Rathge@ndsu.edu
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North Dakota State University |
