MONTANA – Governor Steve Bullock today announced Montana’s unemployment rate remained at 3.9% for the month of October, maintaining the level it has been for most of 2017. The U.S. unemployment rate declined by 0.1 percentage points to 4.1%.
“Montana businesses, workers and our communities continue to reap the benefits of our strong economy,” said Governor Bullock. “More folks are working than ever before in our state’s history, wages are on the rise, and we’re working hand in hand with the private sector and our education system to ensure employers have access to a highly-skilled and trained workforce.”
Montana added 1,300 payroll jobs over the last month, with gains in construction and leisure services. Total employment (which includes payroll jobs plus self-employed and agricultural workers) remained fairly level over the month on a seasonally adjusted basis.
The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) increased by 0.1% in October. Gasoline prices fell after a large increase in September, but price increases for shelter and other items outweighed the declining gas prices. Over the last 12 months, the CPI-U has increased by 2.0%. The index for all items less food and energy, also called core inflation, increased 0.2% in October.
**Unemployment figures are seasonally-adjusted. Seasonally-adjusted numbers remove the effects of events that follow a more or less regular month-to-month pattern each year. These adjustments make nonseasonal patterns easier to identify. The margin of error for the unemployment rate is plus or minus 0.5 percentage points at the 90 percent confidence level. All questions relating to the calculation of unemployment rates should be directed to the Montana Department of Labor and Industry’s Research and Analysis Bureau at 1-800-541-3904.
The next Labor Situation Report for the month of November 2017 will be released on Friday, December 22, 2017.
