Governor Bullock Announces Montana’s Unemployment Rate Falls to 3.3%

  • — September 20 2019

MONTANA – Governor Steve Bullock today announced that Montana’s unemployment rate has reached a 10-year low for the third straight month, decreasing by 0.1 percentage points in August to 3.3%.

“Montana’s economy continues to add jobs, benefitting from the diversity of our industries,” Governor Bullock said. “As Montana experiences low unemployment rates, my administration will continue to work with our private and public partners to expand workforce training opportunities to help businesses find the skilled workers they need in our tight labor market.”

The national unemployment rate remained steady in August at 3.7%.

Total employment, which includes agricultural, payroll and self-employed workers, indicated a gain of 846 jobs, while the labor force grew by 641. Payroll employment fell by 400 jobs over the month, but has grown by about 2,800 jobs over a three-month period. The manufacturing industry gained 300 jobs, corresponding to 1.5 % growth over the month.

The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) increased 0.1% in August. The increase in medical care and shelter outweighed a decline in the energy index. The index for all items less food and energy, also called core inflation, rose by 0.3%. The core inflation rise was broad-based, with increases in the indexes for shelter, medical care, recreation, used cars and trucks, and airline fares.

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** 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 non-seasonal 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 & Industry’s Research and Analysis Bureau at 406-444-4100.

The next Labor Situation Report for the month of September 2019 will be released on Friday, October 18, 2019.

**** INFORMATION AVAILABLE ON THE INTERNET ****

Visit our website at www.lmi.mt.gov for additional information and analysis, including industry employment levels, background on the unemployment rate, and wage rates by occupation. 

****** COUNTY UNEMPLOYMENT RATES ******

The unemployment rate and ranking for each of Montana’s 56 counties is provided below for your convenience.  County unemployment rates and employment levels are not seasonally adjusted and should be compared to the unadjusted statewide unemployment rate of 2.9%.

Rank

County

Current Unemployment Rate

Change over Year

Current Employment

Job Change from Last Year

1

Fallon

1.5

-0.1

1,716

-57

2

Daniels

1.6

0

863

-22

3

Carter

1.7

-0.2

695

9

3

Gallatin

1.7

-0.3

70,129

2,464

5

McCone

1.8

0

945

-9

6

Chouteau

2

-0.6

2,498

45

7

Dawson

2.1

-0.4

4,474

2

7

Meagher

2.1

-0.8

917

24

7

Powder River

2.1

-0.9

936

-18

7

Sheridan

2.1

0

1,670

-26

7

Wibaux

2.1

-1.0

429

-14

12

Custer

2.2

-0.3

5,832

-102

12

Judith Basin

2.2

-0.2

875

21

12

Liberty

2.2

-0.4

946

15

12

Park

2.2

-0.5

9,425

293

16

Beaverhead

2.3

-0.4

5,060

115

16

Garfield

2.3

-0.3

722

21

16

Toole

2.3

0.2

2,086

-24

19

Fergus

2.4

-0.4

5,755

59

19

Sweet Grass

2.4

0.2

1,737

19

21

Golden Valley

2.5

-1.8

356

-1

21

Madison

2.5

-0.3

4,368

78

23

Missoula

2.6

-0.2

61,990

1,449

23

Phillips

2.6

-0.5

1,863

9

23

Stillwater

2.6

-0.3

4,926

97

23

Teton

2.6

-0.3

2,632

9

23

Treasure

2.6

0.2

334

2

28

Jefferson

2.7

-0.8

5,602

55

28

Lewis and Clark

2.7

-0.4

35,475

320

30

Carbon

2.8

-0.1

5,335

-18

30

Richland

2.8

0.1

5,647

-135

30

Valley

2.8

0.5

4,045

-73

33

Petroleum

2.9

-0.7

270

-1

33

Yellowstone

2.9

-0.2

79,114

-188

35

Deer Lodge

3

-0.1

5,104

-10

36

Blaine

3.1

-0.6

2,134

-13

36

Cascade

3.1

-0.3

36,486

285

36

Pondera

3.1

-1.0

2,597

-13

36

Powell

3.1

-0.4

2,885

-20

40

Broadwater

3.2

-0.2

2,666

42

41

Ravalli

3.3

-0.3

19,451

234

41

Wheatland

3.3

-1.1

771

18

43

Musselshell

3.4

-0.3

2,080

-40

43

Silver Bow

3.4

-0.2

17,020

-26

45

Flathead

3.5

-0.3

48,864

1,008

46

Prairie

3.6

0.2

481

4

47

Granite

3.8

-0.2

1,725

42

47

Lake

3.8

-0.1

13,009

206

49

Hill

4

0.2

7,231

-45

50

Mineral

4.2

-1.6

1,761

45

51

Roosevelt

4.3

-0.7

4,169

-8

52

Sanders

4.8

-0.3

4,688

65

53

Lincoln

5.5

-0.3

7,997

224

53

Rosebud

5.5

-0.1

3,648

-79

55

Glacier

6.4

-1.5

5,721

-38

56

Big Horn

7

-2.9

4,362

-208

****** RESERVATION UNEMPLOYMENT RATES ******

The unemployment rate and ranking for each of Montana’s seven reservations is provided below.  Reservation unemployment rates and employment levels are not seasonally adjusted and should be compared to the unadjusted statewide unemployment rate of 2.9%. Reservation areas overlap with county areas, meaning that unemployed individuals living on a reservation will be included in both the reservation and county totals.

Rank

County

Current Unemployment Rate

Change over Year

Current Employment

Job Change from Last Year

1

Flathead

4.0

-0.2

12,745

731

2

Fort Peck

5.3

-0.8

3,768

198

3

Fort Belknap

7.1

-1.1

704

50

4

Blackfeet

8.9

-2.1

4,025

365

5

Crow

10.4

-4.2

2,228

162

6

Rocky Boy's

10.7

-0.2

1,061

129

7

Northern Cheyenne

13.1

-1.2

1,254

150

Contact Sam Loveridge: Public Information Officer, Department of Labor and Industry
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