The number of North Dakota business establishments with paid employees was down 0.5 percent from 2008 to 2009.

The 21,445 business establishments in the state employed 296,083 people in mid-March 2009, which is down 3 percent from 304,906 employees in mid-March 2008.

This month’s “Population Bulletin,” a monthly publication from the North Dakota State Data Center at North Dakota State University, focuses on the number of North Dakota business establishments with paid employees, business employees and annual business payroll as released by “County Business Patterns,” a U.S. Census Bureau data series published annually.

The data focus on the number of single physical locations at which business is conducted. The data excludes most government employees, railroad workers and those self-employed.

The total business payroll for the state was $10 billion in 2009, which is relatively unchanged from 2008. The annual payroll per business employee averaged $33,929 statewide in 2009, up 3 percent from $32,976 in 2008.

Nationally, the annual payroll per business employee averaged $42,403 in 2009, which is relatively unchanged from $42,435 in 2008.

Various service industries, along with retail trade, employ a large proportion of North Dakota’s business workforce. Health care and social assistance employed 18 percent in 2009. Accommodation and food services accounted for another 11 percent. The retail trade industry employed 15 percent of the state’s business workforce in 2009.

With the exception of a handful of industries (forestry, fishing, hunting, agricultural support. mining, arts, entertainment, recreation, health care, transportation and warehousing), the majority of North Dakota businesses (with paid employees) saw a decrease in the number of employees from 2008 to 2009.

“The modest losses in the number of business establishments and employees reflects the economic recession that gripped the nation during this period,” says Richard Rathge, State Data Center director. “What is most impressive is how well North Dakota performed during this period.”

Nationally, the number of business establishments decreased 2 percent from 2008 to 2009 and the number of business employees decreased 5 percent (6.4 million workers). No states had an increase in businesses from 2008 to 2009. North Dakota had the second smallest loss. Alaska had the smallest.

Approximately one in four North Dakota counties experienced growth in the number of business establishments from 2008 to 2009 (15 of 53), while 18 counties had growth in the number of business employees.

For more information, go to http://www.census.gov/econ/cbp/.

NDSU Agriculture Communication – August 2, 2011