Montana Ranks Third in the Nation for Lowest Unemployment

Gov. Gianforte announces unemployment rate remains near record lows

• May 21 2025

HELENA, Mont. – Governor Greg Gianforte today announced Montana has the third lowest unemployment rate in the nation, behind South Dakota and North Dakota.

Montana’s unemployment rate remained unchanged and near its record low at 2.7 percent in April, continuing the historic 46 consecutive months of unemployment at or below 3.4 percent and 7 consecutive months below 3 percent.

“With more Montanans working than ever before, we're continuing our historic stretch of near record low unemployment and leading the nation with the third lowest rate,” Governor Gianforte said. “As we work to put more money back in the pockets of hardworking Montanans through our historic tax cuts, our economy continues to grow as businesses create more good-paying jobs.”

Montana’s unemployment rate was 1.5 percent lower than the national unemployment rate, which was 4.2 percent in April.

Total employment (which includes payroll, agricultural, and self-employed workers) decreased slightly in April. Payroll jobs decreased by 400 with employment with growth in professional services, healthcare, retail trade, and transportation, and declines in the construction, accommodation, and food service industries.

The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) increased 0.2 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis in April. The index for shelter rose 0.3 percent in April, accounting for nearly half of the monthly all items increase. Over the last 12 months, the all-items index rose 2.3% with core inflation rising 2.8%. The index for all items minus food and energy, or core inflation, rose 0.2 percent in April.

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** Unemployment figures are seasonally-adjusted. Seasonally-adjusted numbers remove the effects of events that follow a 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 Data and Operations Bureau at 406-444-4100.

The next Labor Market Information report, including data from May 2025, will be released on Tuesday, June 24.

**** 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. Visitwww.lmi.mt.gov/home/job-tracking for Montana unemployment claims and current economic data.

****** 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 2.7% .

****** 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 2.7%. Reservation areas overlap with county areas, meaning that unemployed individuals living on a reservation will be included in both the reservation and county totals.

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