Content about North Dakota

A shortage of workers in Minot, N.D., has forced Menards to take an unusual step for a home improvement retailer: hiring workers in one city and then flying them to work five-day stints in another state.

A recently released report by IHS Global Insight shows how far away U.S. states are from peak employment and the distance each one must travel to reach pre-recession job levels. According to U.S. regional economist Steven Frable of IHS Global, only four states have been able to reach or surpass their previous employment peaks. All four are beneficiaries of the current energy boom: Alaska, North Dakota, Texas and Louisiana. Some states, though -- notably New York -- are less than 1% away from reaching peak employment.

CoreLogic, a provider of information, analytics and business services, has reported that home prices in the United States decreased 0.4% on a month-over-month basis, the first monthly decline in four months. According to CoreLogic, national home prices, including distressed sales, also declined on a year-over-year basis by 4.4% in August 2011 compared with August 2010. This follows a decline of 4.8% in July 2011 compared with July 2010.

The Home Channel News coast-to-coast countdown of high-quality retailers continues in North Carolina, North Dakota and Ohio: