Great Interactive Graphic of Unemployment in the Country -- Yes, It's All About The Bakken...

...and the farming, and the military (two USAF bases), and the Burlington Northern, and the technology (Fargo/Microsoft, to name one)....

Link here. 

Two thinks I find interesting about that link.

Of course, the first is the bright blue state (employed) right at the center of the graphic among a sea of pink and red (unemployed).

Again, the authors of these employment/unemployment articles certainly see the world from a positive perspective, as in:

Nationally, the unemployment rate declined to 9% from 9.1% last month.

That decrease (and had it been an increase, I would have said the same thing, so there is no hidden agenda here), is neither reproducible nor statistically significant. 

The second thing of interest: the interactive graphic comes from a blog. Yes, a blog. And not only old blog, but a Wall Street Journal blog. Who would have thought blogging would have come so mainstream?

Along that same line: have you noted how mainstream media is now using YouTube video to tell their stories? Bloggers have been doing that for quite some time. I caught on to that little gem about a year ago.

Anyway, I am digressing and rambling. Go to the interactive map linked above to see how North Dakota is doing compared to the rest of the country.