HELENA – Montana’s unemployment rate continued its decline in February, down 0.1 percentage points to 4.3 percent. The U.S. unemployment rate decreased by 0.2 percentage points to 5.5 percent in February.

“With strong job creation in the first two months of this year, Montana’s economy continues the growth we saw throughout last year,” Governor Steve Bullock said. “I’m committed to building on our economic strength to ensure all Montana communities feel the benefits of our growing economy.”

“Job creation in the state continues to be good news for Montana,” said Labor Commissioner Pam Bucy. “Two years ago, our focus was to find jobs for workers. With our strong economy, our task is now to find workers for jobs.”

Montana’s total employment levels increased by 2,921 jobs in February. Over-the-year employment growth of roughly 7,700 jobs indicates strong job growth of 1.6 percent. Total employment estimates include payroll employment, plus agricultural and self-employed workers. Payroll employment estimates indicate a gain of 2,000 jobs over the month.

The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) increased 0.2 percent in February with stabilization in energy prices after several months of sharp decline for gasoline prices. The CPI-U is at the same level as February 2014, indicating no inflation over the past year. The index for all items less food and energy, also called core inflation, rose 0.2 percent in February.

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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 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 March 2015 will be released on Tuesday, April 21, 2015.

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 annual employment data for Montana’s Indian Reservations.

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 5.8 percent.

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