That’s the news from the Fargo Forum, as published on the North Dakota Republican Party Blog.  It’s so good, you really should visit the site and read the entire thing. 

From the post:

North Dakota’s economy is thriving in the face of an economic downturn across the Midwest. That’s the good news from Creighton University’s Mid-America Economic Survey, one of the more reliable and credible economic assessments of the nine-state region.
Professor Ernie Goss of Creighton said the region’s overall economic signs are not unlike those that preceded a recession in 2001. His Business Conditions Index for November dropped below neutral 50 to no-growth 49.1, the first sub-50 reading since 2002.
But North Dakota bucked the trend with a remarkable 71, a jump from October’s 69.3. North Dakota’s index was the strongest in the surveyed region, and Goss attributed the state’s strong economy to the Canadian dollar (shoppers coming south), a great year on the farm and continued expansion of the energy sector.

Other highlights from the article:

• The shopping in North Dakota is still good, with a great Thanksgiving weekend; it will probably be a good Christmas shopping season all the way through.  Consumer confidence here is relatively high.
• Both job growth and export sales are growing.  Around 3300 good-paying manufacturing jobs have been added in the past few years.

I have to quote from the article again:

Among the “head winds” that are slowing the national and regional economies is the subprime mortgage lending debacle. Again, North Dakota bucked the trend by not jumping on to the subprime bandwagon. Banks with state roots and home-grown bankers exercised traditional caution and did not get sucked into the storm that is buffeting the national economy. Free of that negative factor, the state’s increasingly diversified economy continues to thrive.

Oh how wonderful is North Dakota!