Montana’s unemployment rate remained unchanged at
3.5% in January, with 870 jobs added over the month.
“While we don’t yet have an understanding of coronavirus
and its economic impact in Montana, I am taking aggressive action to reduce the
spread to keep as many Montanans healthy as possible now and protect Montana’s
economic strength in the longterm,”
Governor Bullock said.
The U.S. unemployment rate increased slightly by 0.1
percentage point to 3.6%.
Total employment, which includes agricultural, payroll, and
self-employed workers, grew by 872 jobs in January with similar growth in the
labor force of 834 workers. Payroll employment posted strong growth of 1,900
jobs with broad-based gains across industries.
The
Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) rose 0.1% in January, with
a decline in the energy index. The index for all items
less food and energy, also called core inflation, rose by 0.2%. Core inflation
rose 2.3% over the last twelve months.
###
** 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.
Due to the annual process
to benchmark and revision to the prior year’s labor market estimates, the next
Labor Situation Report for the month of February released on Friday, March 27.
March estimates will be released on the third Friday in April (April 17),
consistent with the typical schedule.
****
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
4.4%.
|
|
Unemployment Rate
|
Employment
|
|
Rank
|
County
|
Current Unemployment Rate
|
Change over Year
|
Current Employment
|
Job Change from Last Year
|
|
1
|
Fallon
|
2.3
|
0.1
|
1,635
|
-16
|
|
2
|
Carter
|
2.4
|
-2.0
|
599
|
-30
|
|
2
|
McCone
|
2.4
|
0.5
|
909
|
-15
|
|
2
|
Treasure
|
2.4
|
-1.2
|
323
|
1
|
|
5
|
Gallatin
|
2.5
|
-0.2
|
67,332
|
2,599
|
|
6
|
Daniels
|
2.9
|
0.6
|
863
|
-20
|
|
7
|
Powder
River
|
3.0
|
-0.7
|
911
|
-9
|
|
8
|
Wibaux
|
3.1
|
-0.6
|
434
|
-13
|
|
9
|
Richland
|
3.2
|
0.4
|
5,718
|
56
|
|
9
|
Sheridan
|
3.2
|
0.1
|
1,668
|
-25
|
|
11
|
Dawson
|
3.3
|
0.4
|
4,401
|
-57
|
|
11
|
Liberty
|
3.3
|
-0.1
|
901
|
-24
|
|
11
|
Toole
|
3.3
|
0.8
|
2,014
|
-50
|
|
14
|
Chouteau
|
3.6
|
-0.1
|
2,315
|
-12
|
|
14
|
Madison
|
3.6
|
-0.4
|
5,328
|
203
|
|
14
|
Sweet
Grass
|
3.6
|
0.1
|
1,731
|
25
|
|
17
|
Beaverhead
|
3.7
|
-0.5
|
4,802
|
-56
|
|
17
|
Petroleum
|
3.7
|
-1.6
|
263
|
-5
|
|
19
|
Deer
Lodge
|
3.8
|
-0.3
|
4,803
|
-8
|
|
19
|
Garfield
|
3.8
|
0.7
|
692
|
-29
|
|
19
|
Lewis
and Clark
|
3.8
|
-0.1
|
34,483
|
416
|
|
19
|
Pondera
|
3.8
|
-1.2
|
2,504
|
-38
|
|
19
|
Stillwater
|
3.8
|
-0.1
|
5,115
|
309
|
|
19
|
Yellowstone
|
3.8
|
0.0
|
78,586
|
337
|
|
25
|
Hill
|
4.0
|
-0.1
|
7,281
|
116
|
|
25
|
Meagher
|
4.0
|
-1.1
|
955
|
8
|
|
27
|
Missoula
|
4.1
|
-0.2
|
61,556
|
1,190
|
|
28
|
Cascade
|
4.2
|
0.2
|
36,635
|
423
|
|
28
|
Custer
|
4.2
|
0.0
|
5,845
|
130
|
|
28
|
Valley
|
4.2
|
0.3
|
3,855
|
-9
|
|
31
|
Jefferson
|
4.3
|
-0.2
|
5,458
|
51
|
|
32
|
Powell
|
4.4
|
0.0
|
2,765
|
101
|
|
33
|
Park
|
4.5
|
-0.8
|
8,241
|
220
|
|
34
|
Fergus
|
4.7
|
0.0
|
5,758
|
95
|
|
34
|
Silver
Bow
|
4.7
|
0.0
|
16,407
|
244
|
|
36
|
Blaine
|
4.8
|
-0.3
|
2,377
|
31
|
|
36
|
Judith
Basin
|
4.8
|
0.0
|
919
|
39
|
|
38
|
Golden
Valley
|
4.9
|
-1.3
|
347
|
-2
|
|
38
|
Roosevelt
|
4.9
|
-0.1
|
4,249
|
-29
|
|
40
|
Carbon
|
5.0
|
0.3
|
5,238
|
8
|
|
40
|
Rosebud
|
5.0
|
-0.9
|
3,549
|
4
|
|
40
|
Teton
|
5.0
|
0.6
|
2,586
|
-1
|
|
43
|
Prairie
|
5.1
|
0.5
|
449
|
-7
|
|
43
|
Ravalli
|
5.1
|
-0.7
|
19,228
|
552
|
|
45
|
Phillips
|
5.3
|
0.0
|
1,769
|
-32
|
|
46
|
Broadwater
|
5.4
|
0.6
|
2,445
|
39
|
|
47
|
Lake
|
5.8
|
0.4
|
12,443
|
306
|
|
48
|
Wheatland
|
6.1
|
0.6
|
728
|
-4
|
|
49
|
Musselshell
|
6.3
|
1.5
|
2,153
|
9
|
|
50
|
Flathead
|
6.5
|
0.3
|
44,778
|
1,019
|
|
51
|
Big
Horn
|
7.3
|
-1.9
|
4,322
|
-131
|
|
52
|
Granite
|
8.4
|
0.8
|
1,601
|
-47
|
|
53
|
Glacier
|
8.5
|
-1.0
|
4,986
|
10
|
|
53
|
Sanders
|
8.5
|
-0.3
|
4,408
|
81
|
|
55
|
Lincoln
|
10.4
|
0.4
|
7,266
|
102
|
|
56
|
Mineral
|
10.9
|
2.4
|
1,578
|
15
|
****** 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
4.4%.
Reservation areas overlap with county areas, meaning that unemployed
individuals living on a reservation will be included in both the reservation
and county totals.
|
|
Unemployment Rate
|
Employment
|
|
Rank
|
County
|
Current Unemployment Rate
|
Change over Year
|
Current Employment
|
Job Change from Last Year
|
|
1
|
Flathead
|
6.1
|
0.3
|
12,188
|
293
|
|
2
|
Fort Peck
|
6.3
|
-0.1
|
3,814
|
-25
|
|
3
|
Crow
|
10.9
|
-2.7
|
2,212
|
-59
|
|
4
|
Fort Belknap
|
11.0
|
-0.6
|
778
|
8
|
|
5
|
Blackfeet
|
11.7
|
-1.5
|
3,528
|
3
|
|
6
|
Northern Cheyenne
|
12.2
|
-2.3
|
1,228
|
-12
|
|
7
|
Rocky Boy's
|
12.4
|
-0.4
|
1,041
|
10
|