Fargo-Moorhead pay falls for first time in decades
Fargo-Moorhead residents saw their average earnings fall last year for the first time in more than three decades.
Data from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis show that the average metro-area resident earned $39,159 in 2009 - about $650 less than in 2008. That amounts to a pay cut of about 1.6 percent.
It was the first time since 1977 that Fargo-Moorhead did not see an increase. However, it fared better than the average metro area nationwide, where income fell by 2.8 percent, or more than $1,100 per person.
Bismarck was the only metro area in the Dakotas or Minnesota to post a rise in earnings in 2009, climbing 1.5 percent to an average of about $38,300. Income has not fallen in the Bismarck area since 1969, the first year of data on record.
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Information from: The Forum
(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
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