This Bismarck Tribune article highlights a survey-study by the Bismarck Mandan Development Association during a recent job fair in Grand Rapids, Michigan.  It appears that while the rest of the nation struggles with unemployment, the Bismarck/Mandan area in North Dakota is “apparently rich with jobs.”

It’s not that the economic downturn hasn’t brushed North Dakota.  Major manufacturing companies like Bobcat are taking safety measures like shutting down their plants earlier in the year and asking some employees to take early retirement. 

But overall, the Bismarck area economy is holding its own.  From the article:

North Dakota’s unemployment numbers continue to hold steady or, in some areas, decline. After the nation posted its highest unemployment rate in 14 years at 6.5 percent, North Dakota’s labor statistics boasted a 2.8 percent unemployment rate, with 4,000 more jobs added in September than in the previous year.

In Burleigh and Morton counties, that’s 2.4 percent and 2.7 percent unemployment, respectively. Statewide, there are about 16,000 open jobs.