North Dakota Leads The Nation In Labor Force Participation

0

Since 1999, the trend for the national labor force participation rate (theĀ percentageĀ of working-age Americans with jobs) looks like this, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

latest_numbers_LNS11300000_1999_2014_all_period_M09_data

 

Going back further, the national labor force participation rate is at a 37-year low. In September, it was at just 62.7 percent.

In North Dakota, the trend is very different. Outside of a boom-and-bust around the time of the 2008/2009 economic collapse, North Dakota’s trend has been upward according to numbers compiled by LibertyFound.org:

ndlaborforce

 

As a matter of fact, North Dakota has the highest labor force participation rate in the country at 72.9 percent.

If anything, North Dakota needs more workers to participate. Unlike most of the rest of the country, North Dakota’s problem is a worker shortage.