With the release of the latest oil production data for the Bakken in North Dakota, this tight oil play reached a new record of 975,000 barrels per day in May.  This represents an increase of almost 37,000 barrels per day from the previous month, and is the largest April-May increase on record.  Daily oil per well remains stable at 127 barrels, down only slightly from the May 2013 value of 130.

Overall production for North Dakota was also up in May to a new record of 1.04 million barrels per day, with daily oil per well steady at 99 barrels.

North Dakota has the lowest unemployment rate in the nation at 2.6 percent.  In the western part of the state, unemployment rates in some counties are at – or even below – one percent.  Unlike the neighboring states of Montana, South Dakota, and Minnesota, which all saw their unemployment rates remain high through 2009 and 2010 at peak levels, North Dakota's unemployment rate has declined in near-perfect correlation with rising oil production in the Bakken.

Between 2009 and 2012, real per capita GDP in North Dakota increased an astonishing 42.4 percent.  The nearest competitor was Oregon with a 13.6-percent increase over this period.  The corresponding national increase was only 5.2 percent.  North Dakota's per capita disposable personal income has increased by over 38 percent since 2009, leading the nation.  Oklahoma ranked second at 17 percent.  The national increase was just 10 percent.