N.D. – Nearly 16,500 North Dakotans are currently unemployed. We spoke to the communications officer at Job Service North Dakota about what this last year has been like.

She says the unemployment rate for the month of November is 4.1 one percent. In April it was 9.2 percent. And this time last year, pre-pandemic, the unemployment rate was 2 percent.

“In those last few months that I’ve mentioned, since September, we’ve been right around 2 percent higher than where we were this time last year, and that’s definitely attributable to the pandemic,” said Sarah Arntson, communications officer, Job Service ND.

The newest stimulus package signed by the President will include an additional $300 on top of weekly unemployment benefits through March 14.