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Tuesday, December 09, 2014

Robert Romano: Lift Wages With Growth, Not Government Read

No, that is not Photoshopped. It is an actual help wanted sign from Williston, N.D. The story is the shale oil boom taking place there that has resulted in an explosion of demand for labor, a surge in property values, and a bevy of new construction.

In fact, North Dakota North Dakota leads the nation in the growth of home values at 8.3 percent year over year as of September, according to Freddie Mac. And it is also the envy of the post-financial crisis economy with the lowest unemployment rate anywhere at 2.8 percent in October, according to data compiled by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The simple reason is growth. North Dakota went from a field production monthly total of 2.6 million barrels of oil in September 2004 to almost 36 million barrels in September 2014 thanks to shale oil fracking.

There was no hike in the minimum wage there — it remains $7.25 an hour. No onslaught of wage and hour regulations. No redistribution of wealth or stupid tax credits or welfare. Just innovation and growth that has created over 136,000 jobs — a 40 percent increase — in the past decade in an area so sparsely population it barely registers on the electoral college.

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2 comments:

Anonymous said...

This is the reason they want to let in so many immigrants both legal and illegal to help hold down wages.

Anonymous said...

The market is driving the wages to that level.....it's almost better than welfare in some places - doesn't meant the welfare people will move there though - they usually don't like the harsh winters.....