Gallup: ND continues to top job creation survey

North Dakota employees had the most optimistic perception of job creation in the country for the fifth straight year, according to Gallup. 

According to a survey released Wednesday, Gallup polled all states by asking workers whether their employer is hiring and expanding its workforce. North Dakota tallied a 40 on Gallup’s “Job Creation Index” for 2013 — higher than all others. 

{mosads}The state has consistently clocked in with the lowest unemployment rate in the country at 2.6 percent amid the oil boom there. 

Gallup noted that three of the top five states on the index are heavily Republican while a number of states on the bottom of the index — including New York, Rhode Island and Vermont — are heavily Democratic.

Gallup found, though, there is little correlation between party makeup and hiring. 

“Apart from this, there is little correspondence between net hiring and partisan affiliation in the states,” the polling firm wrote in an analysis. 

A few states have remained in the top 10 for the last four years, including Nebraska, Texas, South Dakota, Iowa and the District of Columbia. 

Those that regularly appear on the bottom are Rhode Island and Connecticut. Rhode Island currently has the highest unemployment rate in the country at 9.1 percent. 

The perception of job creation rose most heavily in Delaware, Florida and California. 

Nationally, the index increased slightly from a score of 18 to 20. The rating has recovered from 2009 when the job creation index was trending downward. 

The jobless rate in the country stands at 6.6 percent after employers added 113,000 jobs in the month of January. 

The Gallup tracking poll surveyed more than 200,000 people throughout 2013 and has a 1-percentage point margin of error.