Boardings hit 10-year high

The state Aeronautics Commission says airline boardings in North Dakota last year hit a 10- year high.

The state’s eight commercial airports served 682,663 passengers last year with an average of 52 daily departure flights. The total was up 4 percent from last year.

Aeronautics Director Mark Holzer says new flights, along with oil- and energy-related business and marketing, were factors in the increase.

Williston’s passenger boardings jumped more than 39 percent from 2007, totaling more than 11,000. Dickinson set a record with more than 8,700 boardings last year, up 15 percent from 2007.

The only airports reporting a drop last year were Bismarck, at about 3.5 percent, and Devils Lake, at 9 percent.

North Dakota’s jobless low

North Dakota posted the second lowest unemployment rate in the nation for Dec. 2008.

According to Job Service North Dakota, the state’s non-seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for December rose to 3.4 percent from November’s 2.8 percent. In December 2007, that rate was 3.3 percent.

After seasonal adjustments, the process that accommodates for predictable fluctuations between months, such as hours of daylight and seasonal weather, the state’s unemployment rate evened out at 3.5 percent for December, 3.3 percent for November and 3.2 percent for December 2007.

To be clear, the first numbers are actual snapshots of labor market condition, according to Michael Ziesch with Job Service North Dakota. The second set of numbers is adjusted for comparison between all months of the year.

Annual unemployment rates were not available at time of publication.

Taxable sales up

North Dakota’s taxable sales were up by 28 percent in the third quarter 2008 compared to the same period in 2007, Tax Commissioner Cory Fong announced.

The state brought in about $3.5 billion in taxable sales and purchases between July and September, up $755 million when compared to the 2007 figures, Fong said.

Of the state’s 50 largest cities, those posting the largest gains include Tioga, Stanley and Williston. Bismarck had a 5.9 percent gain from 2007, earning $335.8 million.

Towns experiencing a decline in taxable sales include Mandan, down by .6 percent, and Ashley, which fell by 17.9 percent.

Counties with the largest increases compared to 2007’s third quarter stem from oil rich areas such as Burke, up by 423 percent, Stark, up by 89.3 percent, Williams, up by 79.1 percent, and Mountrail, up by 77 percent.

Burleigh County grew by 4.6 percent, earning $340.7 million in the third quarter.

Fourteen of the state’s 15 industries also reported growth, including the wholesale trade sector – the largest increase in terms of dollars earning $254.4 million. The transportation and warehousing sector grew by the largest percentage at 503 percent. North Dakota’s retail sector also grew by about 7.8 percent. The only sector to decline was the arts, entertainment and recreation sector, dropping by .8 percent.

Budget forecast looks good

An updated budget forecast presented to lawmakers in February showed that North Dakota should expect strong tax revenues over the next two years despite slumping oil prices and signs of a recessionary economy touching the state.

The update, presented by the Office of Management and Budget, comes about two months after Gov. John Hoeven presented his budget to the Legislature. During his December budget outlook, Hoeven estimated that the state’s reserves would end somewhere between $800 million and $1.2 billion, depending on the price of oil. Monday’s report showed that the state’s reserves should be nearly $1 billion in June 2011.

Oil revenues are expected to drop from $829 million to $603 million, a decrease of about 28 percent. Officials from Moody’s Economy. com estimate that the average price of oil over the next two years should be remain above $40 a barrel.

Income and sales tax are both expected to slightly decrease over the next two years, with upticks in the cigarette and tobacco tax income as well as the coal conversion tax revenue.