Fed: Fargo economy healthy, but challenges remain

The economy of the Fargo area is robust and growing but not without challenges, the president of the Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank said Tuesday.

Given its low unemployment and growing business diversity, the Fargo area has a healthy economy, Minneapolis Fed President Narayana Kocherlakota said.

Kocherlakota said the financial health of the North Dakota state government is the primary benefit to cities like Fargo, which have largely not seen much of an economic boost from oil production.

"Certainly you can point to parts of the Fargo economy that are probably being impacted in some way by what's happening in the west, but that's not the dominant story of what's happening here," he said.

Kocherlakota met with local business leaders in Fargo and said they are confident, but somewhat apprehensive about the weak national economy.

Although the North Dakota oil boom has a limited effect on the Fargo-Moorhead area, he said it faces some of the same problems seen in western North Dakota communities.

"There are shortages of workers in some areas, some sectors of the economy," he said. "I think there's upward pressure on rents, on housing prices. These are the pressures that come with having a robust growing economy."