Despite high jobless rate, five states on job-growth spurt

3. North Dakota – 7,000 jobs

Nick Smith/Williston Herald/AP/File
[Editor's note: This Jan. 19, 2011, photo updates an earlier one.] Brazilian college student Leonardo de Souza works at McDonald's in Williston, N.D. Mr. de Souza is one of dozens of students from South America currently working at various Williston businesses through a worker program run by a Maryland-based company.

What! Adding 7,000 jobs in seven months ranks a state in the Top 5 job creators? Well, yes, if you're a small state like North Dakota. The state already has earned kudos for maintaining the lowest unemployment rate among the states during the great recession. Part of the reason is job growth. If North Dakota were California (we're talking size here, not culture), it would have added 256,000 jobs.

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