A Job Service North Dakota graph shows job opening numbers in recent years in Minot’s seven-county Region 2, which includes Burke, Bottineau, McHenry, Mountrail, Pierce, Renville and Ward counties.

North Dakota listed 12,700 job openings in September, down nearly 10% from listings a year ago.

An indication of what has happened to the economy is seen in the number of active resumes from residents, which now is close to the number of job openings, according to Job Service North Dakota. A year ago, job openings tripled the number of resumes.

Job Service’s September report listed 15,493 active resumes, up 30.7% from August and up 209% from a year ago. Of those job seekers, 78% were not currently working and 2,693 were from out of state.

In the seven-county region that includes Minot, job openings totaled 1,332, down 6% from a year ago. Ward County had 1,433 active resumes last month.

Although the numbers indicate the region continues to feel the effects of the coronavirus pandemic and oil industry slump, Minot Area Chamber of Commerce President John MacMartin said he sees businesses remaining optimistic. He added that sales tax collections haven’t fallen off as much as feared. The City of Minot sales tax collection data show collections through August at 5.25% below a year ago.

MacMartin noted the pain from the pandemic hasn’t been shared equally. Big box stores and groceries remained open and saw gains as shoppers shifted their buying focus, while many other businesses saw losses, particularly those in the hotel industry that are feeling the effects of people staying closer to home and businesses adopting virtual platforms, he said.

The virus has some people nervous about going back to work as well, MacMartin said.

“The uncertainty of the whole situation has got everybody on edge,” he said.

North Dakota’s September jobs report showed 18 of 53 counties with an increase in the number of open jobs over the year. Burleigh saw the biggest increase and Cass the largest decline in job openings.

The largest number of job openings in the state are in healthcare, which has 2,586 listings, or 245 more listings than a year ago. The occupational group reporting the largest decrease from a year ago was the sales and related category, down 260 job openings, Job Service reported.

Statewide, the number of job openings in September slipped a bit from August. Last week, North Dakota had 12,636 continued unemployment claims, paying out nearly $5.4 million. Cass County, followed by Williams, had the most claims.

Ward County was third with $389,077 paid on 967 claims. Of those, 201 claims were in the mining, oil and gas industry and 78 were in the industry category that includes oilfield-related transportation. Accommodations/food service had 99 claims and wholesale trade 60 claims.

The state’s latest reported unemployment rate was 4.8% in August.