Business News: GF jobs…local sales tax & Holiday

For nearly a year, the Federal Reserve has been on a mission to cool down the job market to help curb the nation’s worst inflation bout in four decades. The job market hasn’t been cooperating. Consider what happened in January: The government reported Friday that employers added a sizzling 517,000 jobs last month and that the unemployment rate dipped to 3.4%, the lowest level since 1969.

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The unemployment rate in Grand Forks County slipped below 2% in December. The 1.95% mark compares to 2.6% one year ago. A total of 714 people were in search of work in the county at the close of 2022. Divide County had the lowest rate at just 1.2%. Rolette County was at the opposite end at 6.4%.

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Pay and benefits for America’s workers grew at a healthy but more gradual pace in the final three months of 2022, the third straight slowdown that could help reassure the Federal Reserve that wage gains won’t fuel higher inflation. Wages and benefits, such as health insurance, grew 1% in the October-December quarter compared with the previous three months.

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First month home sales in Grand Forks and East Grand Forks hit a five year low according to data compiled by the Grand Forks Area Association of realtors. The sale of 34 homes… townhomes…and condos were closed in January. That compares to 51 last year…41 in each of 2020 & 2021…and 49 in 2019. The average sales price was $262,682. The numbers do not include private sales.

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Sales tax collections are off to a good start in 2023. The first payment of the year topped $2.7 million dollars. The January check closes out the 2022 budget year for collections. On an accrued 12 month rolling basis the local tax is up more than 9.1%. The average monthly collection in 2022 was $2,650,062 – an increase of $222,000 over the previous 12 month span.

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The North Dakota Department of Commerce announced has awarded a total of $1.25 million to two companies closing out the fund balance for this biennium. The Innovation Technology Loan Fund approved $500,000 dollars to Fenworks – a Grand Forks business offering a software platform for K-12 schools. FlowCore Systems, a Williston-based chemical injection automation company with precise fluid measurement technology for the oil and gas industry was awarded $750,000.

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The Grand Forks Planning Department is reviewing site plans for a new Holiday Store at 1316 South Washington. The proposed project includes a 5200 square foot building with an attached car wash on over two acres of land. Utility easements still need to be addressed before the build begins this summer. The store could include a beer/wine license.

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Becca Cruger has received the 2023 Economic Development 40 Under 40 award. The honor recognizes “rising stars” under 40 years old in the economic development industry. Cruger is the Director of Workforce Development for the Grand Forks Region Economic Development Corporation. She started with the EDC in 2017.

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The U.S. government’s road safety agency is investigating complaints that windshield trim panels can fly off of Ford Explorers while they’re traveling at highway speeds. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says it has 164 complaints about the trim pieces detaching on 2011 through 2019 Explorer SUVs. The probe covers about 1.86 million vehicles.