FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 17, 2015

CONTACT:
Mike Wessler, Governor’s Office, 444-9725
Annie Glover, Communications Director, Department of Labor & Industry, 444-1654
Barbara Wagner, Chief Economist, Department of Labor & Industry, 444-5474

Montana’s Unemployment Rate Down to 4.4 Percent

HELENA – Montana’s unemployment rate continued its decline in January, down 0.1 percentage points to 4.4 percent. The U.S. unemployment rate increased by 0.1 percentage points to 5.7 percent in January.

“Montana started 2015 with strong job growth, with the economy adding over 3,000 jobs in January,” Governor Steve Bullock said. “With strong wage growth last year, and low inflation because of falling fuel prices, more Montanans are employed and have more money in their pockets.”

“Montana’s economy continues to add good-paying jobs,” said Labor Commissioner Pam Bucy. “We must continue our efforts to train workers with the skills needed by businesses in order to continue job growth in today’s low unemployment environment.”

Montana’s total employment levels increased by 3,230 jobs in January. Total employment estimates include payroll employment, plus agricultural and self-employed workers. Payroll employment estimates indicate a gain of 300 jobs over the month.

Every February, the Montana Department of Labor and Industry (DLI) and the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) recalculate the employment estimates for past years in a process called benchmarking. The benchmarking process makes employment estimates more accurate, in addition to smoothing the data series and calibrating the data to new population estimates. This year’s benchmark process also included an update to a new model to estimate unemployment rates. Users of labor market information should update their files to reflect the revised estimates to be consistent with the new benchmark data.

The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) fell sharply for the third straight month in January, declining by 0.7 percent because of a drop in energy prices. The gasoline index fell by 18.7 percent in January. The January price decline erased all price increases from 2014, with the index  ecreasing 0.1 percent since January 2014, which marks the first over-the-year deflation since 2009. The index for all items less food and energy, also called core inflation, rose 0.2 percent in January.

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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 February 2015 will be released on Friday, March 27, 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. This month’s Economy at a Glance article considers who has benefited from Montana’s strong wage growth by examining the distribution of wages paid to Montana workers.

****** 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 5.3 percent.

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