Jobs in the center of the Oil Patch of North Dakota have skyrocketed nearly 50 percent over the last 36 months, according to the Prairie Business Magazine.

Employees have flocked to the oil fields and other related work areas.  Working in the field has its benefits, with a yearly salary of $89,730, which is twice the amount of the state average at $41,778.

Over the last several months, the state’s unemployment figure had been in the cellar amongst the other 49 states.  This has been due to the energy boom as well as the large crop costs, plus other circumstances.

There appears to be a trickledown effect in terms of jobs and pay, from the Oil Patch to the remainder of the state.

There are 17 oil-and-gas-producing counties in the state.  From 2010 to 2011, on average, yearly jobs jumped 7,393 roles, representing a 10.4 percent rise.

In comparison, the entire state saw a 5.8 percent bump in employment in the same timeframe.  That percentage represents 20,759 jobs.

If the Oil Patch counties are excluded, the state only displays only a 4.6 percent boost.

That figure is much larger than the yearly 1 percent rise that has taken place since the decade before the millennium.

North Dakota’s sum of jobs on a yearly basis, dating back to 2011 was 379,433.  Of that figure, 21 percent were from the Oil Patch counties.  That mark equals 78,533 jobs.

In terms of pay bumps, a comparable trend exists in correspondence with the Oil Patch.

Yearly pay on average in the Oil Patch counties soared 15.2 percent from 2010 to last year.

Pay across North Dakota rose 9.6 percent.  Without the Oil Patch counties, the expansion would have only been 8 percent.

The big positions that everyone wants to get their hands on are in the construction, transportation and material moving departments.

Three years ago, weekly pay was near 25 percent in 12 Bakken counties (nine in Dakota, three in Montana).  The rest of North Dakota was stuck at 4.9.

Since then, job listings have quadrupled in Bakken counties.

The nine Bakken counties in North Dakota saw employment increase nearly 100 percent since the summer of 2004, from 10.4 percent to 20 percent.

There is no official word if there is will be an overflow of success that will spill into the rest of North Dakota from the Bakken counties.

Approximately one in every three resumes submitted to Job Service North Dakota is from out-of-state.

As of last month, North Dakota posted 22,161 job listings on the web.  Cass County saw the largest rise in those postings with 1,009.  Burleigh County had 865.  Williams County recorded 263.