North Dakota saw a nearly 11 percent jump in taxable sales and purchases in the first quarter of this year compared with that quarter last year, according to the state Tax Department. That represents the fastest year-to-year first-quarter growth since 1990.
Total taxable sales and purchases were $1.67 billion in the first three months of 2004. One of the largest increases was in construction, which rose 34.3 percent. Manufacturing grew 10.9 percent statewide, but in some areas the figure was much higher, as in Grand Forks, where it increased 68 percent.
The growth is likely a continuation of increased activity at the end of 2003. Preliminary figures indicate growth was slower in the second quarter, at around 4 percent or 5 percent.
—Joe Mahon
