North Dakota's economy is continuing to grow despite a slowing of the national economy.

And state officials don't forsee a significant dropoff in the near future.

The first quarter taxable sales and purchases report issued Wednesday by Tax Commissioner Cory Fong shows that taxable sales were up to $2.42 billion, an increase of 12.9 percent from the first quarter of 2007.

Fong said the report marks the 20th consecutive quarter of improvement.

"That's astounding," he said. "Five years of continued, sustained growth. That's unheard of."

Pam Sharp, director of the state office of management and budget, said the report is a measure of the things that people buy that they have to pay taxes on.

"People are buying more than what they were buying last year," she said.

Shane Goettle, commissioner of the commerce department, said five key areas have influenced the steady growth.

Agriculture, energy and manufacturing exports are helping bring a lot of outside money into North Dakota, while a strong business climate is encouraging investment from outside technology firms, and the weak dollar is enticing Canadian tourists over the border, despite the high costs of fuel Goettle said.

Sharp said another factor is the housing market. The nationwide downturn hasn't hit North Dakota like it has other states, and this also has contributed to more consumer confidence and allowed for greater consumer spending.

"Consumer confidence at the national level has decreased because consumers haven't been able to get the equity out of their homes," she said. "The housing market is one of the biggest factors to why we're not in the situation other states are in."

Three areas showed declines from the same time last year. Construction was down 17.6 percent, entertainment was down 13.2 percent and the educational, health care and social services sector showed a decline of less than 1 percent.

Fong said those declines were not unexpected, as January, February and March are slow months for construction. And entertainment, which includes sports, fitness, museums and golf, also are slower in the winter months.

"It's kind of par for the course," he said. "No pun intended."

The report also showed that of the 50 largest cities in North Dakota, only one - Cavalier - showed a decline. Bismarck showed an increase of about 6 percent, he said.

Also according to the report, Oliver and Sioux counties were the only counties reporting a decrease. Oliver County dropped 26 percent and Sioux County was down 18 percent compared to first quarter 2007.

Sharp said preliminary sales tax collections for April, May and June - quarter two - have been very strong, so she expects another quarter of growth.

Fong said he is cautious about what quarter two figures will show. Rising energy and food costs are pushing more disposable income into food and fuel, and could have a significant impact on agriculture this summer. But he doesn't expect any significant declines after 20 quarters of consecutive growth.

"There is a sense of: When is the other shoe going to drop?" he said. "But it hasn't."