American industry expanded in January for the fourth straight month but has not returned to pre-pandemic levels. The Federal Reserve reports that U.S. industrial production – which includes output factories, mines and utilities – rose 0.9% last month on top of increases of 1.3% in December, 0.9% in November and 1.1% in October.
Those end-of-the-year stimulus checks got Americans shopping again. The Commerce Department says retail sales soared a seasonally adjusted 5.3% in January from the month before as the $600 stimulus checks pushed people to buy furniture, clothing and appliances. That’s the biggest increase since June.
Sales of previously occupied U.S. homes rose again last month, a sign that the housing market’s strong momentum from 2020 may be carrying over into this year. The National Association of Realtors says existing home sales rose 0.6% in January from the previous month to a seasonally adjusted rate of 6.69 million annualized units.
Target Corporation (NYSE: TGT) today announced a number of changes across its executive leadership team. Christina Hennington has been named executive vice president and chief growth officer. Hennington joined Target in 2003. Rick Gomez has been named executive vice president and chief food and beverage officer. Cara Sylvester has been promoted to executive vice president and chief marketing and digital officer. The Minnesota-based retailer serves guests at nearly 1,900 stores and at Target.com.
A new monthly survey of bankers suggests the economy is slowly improving in rural parts of 10 Plains and Western states, but employment remains below the level it was at before the coronavirus pandemic began last year. Creighton University economist Ernie Goss said the number of jobs in the region is down roughly 146,000, or 3.3%, from the level it was at before the pandemic began. The survey covers North Dakota and Minnesota.
North Dakota airport boards are still struggling to take off. The eight commercial airports posted a total of 42,238 passengers in January. That was down 57% compared to one year ago. Which was pre COVID-19 pandemic. The Grand Forks Airport had 3,817 boardings. That was down nearly 5,000 from 2020 levels.
The North Dakota Department of Commerce this week renewed the Renaissance Zone Program for the city of Grand Forks for five additional years. The program is a tool for community redevelopment and economic investment that incorporates tax incentives to business and residential properties. Grand Forks started utilizing the Renaissance Zone Program in 2001 and has had 69 approved projects.
The North Dakota Public Service Commission (PSC) will hold two remote public input sessions on March 4, 2021. The sessions will be an opportunity for Xcel electric customers to provide comments regarding their request for an increase to its electric rates. The proposed increase would result in an annual increase in its North Dakota electric service revenue of $22.2 million or 10.8 percent.
Becca Cruger, workforce development manager at the Grand Forks Region Economic Development Corporation, has been named to the International Economic Development Council’s (IEDC) Young Professionals Advisory Committee. This committee advises IEDC on matters important to young economic development professionals and students of economic development related disciplines. IEDC is a non-profit, non-partisan membership organization serving economic developers.
Ford has lost track of some older Takata air bags that can explode and hurl shrapnel, so it’s recalling more than 154,000 vehicles in North America. This recall covers Rangers from 2004 through 2006.
Global food giant Nestle is selling its North American bottled-water brands for $4.3 billion to a pair of private-equity firms that hope to reinvigorate sales. U.S. bottled-water sales have grown every year since the 2009 recession, as bottled water outsold soft drinks for the fourth year in a row in 2019.
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