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N.D. (AP) — North Dakota officials are expecting the state’s population to rise despite low oil prices and a slowdown in drilling activity.
The U.S. Census Bureau is slated to release new population numbers on Tuesday.
Last year’s count showed 739,482 residents. That was an all-time high and an increase of more than 15,000 residents from the prior year.
In the early 2000s, North Dakota was one of only a few states with a declining population. The state began to reverse that trend in 2004 because of the oil boom and the population has grown every year since.