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For nearly a year, the Federal Reserve has been on a mission to cool the labor market to help curb the nation’s worst inflation in four decades. The labor market has never cooperated. Consider what happened in January: Employers added a record 517,000 jobs last month and the unemployment rate fell to 3.4%, the lowest level since 1969, the government reported Friday.
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The unemployment rate in Grand Forks County dropped below 2 percent in December. The 1.95% mark is compared to 2.6% a year ago. By the end of 2022, a total of 714 people were looking for work in the county. Divide County had the lowest rate at just 1.2 percent. Rowlett County was on the opposite end at 6.4 percent.
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Pay and benefits for U.S. workers grew healthy but slowly in the final three months of 2022, a third straight contraction that could ensure the Federal Reserve’s wage hikes won’t trigger higher inflation. Wages and benefits, such as health insurance, rose 1 percent 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. Sales of 34 homes…townhomes…and condos closed in January. That compares to 51 last year… 41 in each of 2020 and 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 installment of the year increased by $2.7 million. The January check closes for fiscal year 2022 stock. Local taxes rose by more than 9.1 percent on a cumulative 12-month basis. The average monthly collection in 2022 was $2,650,062 – an increase of $222,000 from the previous 12 months.
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The North Dakota Department of Commerce announced that it has awarded a total of $1.25 million to two companies that have closed the balance of this two-year fund. The Innovation Technology Loan Fund approved $500,000 for Fenworks – a Grand Forks business that provides a software platform for K-12 schools. FlowCore Systems, a Williston-based chemical injection automation company with precision fluid metering 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 5,200-square-foot building with an attached car wash on more than two acres of land. Utilities still need to be addressed before construction begins this summer. The store may include a beer/wine license.
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Becca Krueger received the 2023 Economic Development 40 Under 40 Award. It recognizes “Rising Stars” under 40 in the economic development industry. Kruger is the director of workforce development for the Grand Forks Regional Economic Development Corporation. She started with EDC in 2017.
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The US government’s Highway Safety Agency is investigating complaints that windshield panels from Ford Explorers can explode while traveling at highway speeds. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration It says it has 164 complaints about trim on 2011 to 2019 Explorer SUVs. The investigation covers about 1.86 million vehicles.
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