MINNEAPOLIS, June 20, 2012—The Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis has developed a new website that gathers a range of economic, demographic and financial data for the Bakken oil patch of western North Dakota and eastern Montana.

This is the only web resource of its kind to collect data on oil production, employment, housing, banking and other key business indicators. Data will be updated regularly. In addition, the site will offer other reports and analyses on the rapidly growing region.

The data on the website offer comparisons between the counties that lie within the Bakken oilfield and the rest of North Dakota and Montana. For example:

• Employment levels are up about 50 percent in the Bakken and are mostly flat in the rest of Montana and North Dakota.
• Average weekly wages are up around 25 percent in the Bakken since 2009; wage growth is up 1.9 percent from third quarter 2009 to third quarter 2011 in the rest of Montana and 4.9 percent in the rest of North Dakota.
• New business establishments have grown by nearly a third in the Bakken, while decreasing slightly in the rest of Montana and North Dakota.

The Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis monitors business and economic conditions throughout its Ninth District, which encompasses Montana, North and South Dakota, Minnesota, northwestern Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Data, reports and articles on these states and on the many industries throughout the district can be found on the Bank’s website.

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