Montana Reaches 22nd Consecutive Month of Unemployment Below 3%

Governor's Office
  • September 19 2023
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HELENA, Mont. – Governor Greg Gianforte today announced Montana’s unemployment rate in August was below 3% for the 22nd consecutive month, bucking national trends as the country’s unemployment rate rose to 3.8% in August.

Montanans have created more than 8,600 jobs in the first eight months of 2023 and nearly 40,000 jobs since Gov. Gianforte took office in January 2021.

“Despite national headwinds of inflation, Montanans continue to work hard to earn a living, own or rent a home, raise their family, and achieve the American dream,” Gov. Gianforte said. “We’ll continue to advance our pro-jobs, pro-family, pro-business policies to drive our economy forward and help Montanans prosper.”

Total employment in Montana has grown every month of 2023, reaching a record high in August of 563,078 workers.

In August, Montana’s labor force also grew by more than 500 workers, adding nearly 7,500 workers since the start of the year.

Montana’s unemployment rate remained at 2.5% in August.

In August, the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) rose 0.6% over-the-month. Rising gas prices accounted for the majority of the increase while shelter prices also continued to rise. The 12-month change in the all-items index was 3.7%, slightly more than the change for the 12 months ending in July. The index for all items minus food and energy, also called core inflation, increased by 0.3% for the month. For the year ending in August, core inflation was 4.3%.

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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 Data and Operations Bureau at 406-444-4100.

 

The next Labor Market Information report, including data from September 2023, will be released on Friday, October 20th.

**** 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. Visit www.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 2.5%. 

 

Unemployment Rate

Employment

Rank

County

Current Unemployment Rate

Change over Year

Current Employment

Job Change from Last Year

1

Fallon

1.4

0

1662

3

2

Powder River

1.6

-0.3

955

25

2

Prairie

1.6

-1.3

674

204

4

Sheridan

1.7

0

1677

-28

4

Gallatin

1.7

0

83156

4113

6

Valley

1.8

-0.4

3910

6

7

Beaverhead

1.9

-0.1

5307

-124

7

Judith Basin

1.9

-0.7

886

22

9

Carter

2

-0.4

649

49

9

Daniels

2

0

851

4

9

McCone

2

0

920

21

9

Park

2

-0.5

10360

-108

9

Sweet Grass

2

0.2

1839

22

14

Fergus

2.1

-0.1

5736

-9

14

Garfield

2.1

-0.4

668

-4

14

Meagher

2.1

0.1

1002

-9

14

Stillwater

2.1

0

5276

-15

14

Toole

2.1

0.4

2120

40

19

Custer

2.2

-0.2

6102

-161

19

Deer Lodge

2.2

0

5523

117

19

Golden Valley

2.2

-0.8

362

4

19

Wibaux

2.2

0.2

442

-7

23

Lewis and Clark

2.3

-0.1

39415

575

23

Powell

2.3

0

3027

122

23

Wheatland

2.3

-0.5

707

4

26

Carbon

2.4

-0.1

5674

-2

26

Hill

2.4

-0.5

7467

244

26

Jefferson

2.4

0

6183

103

26

Madison

2.4

0.3

4119

-776

26

Ravalli

2.4

-0.1

22011

532

26

Teton

2.4

0

2692

-15

32

Dawson

2.5

0

4170

-155

32

Richland

2.5

-0.4

5577

16

32

Yellowstone

2.5

0.1

85545

-608

32

Cascade

2.5

0

38483

-177

32

Missoula

2.5

0.1

66770

1598

37

Liberty

2.6

-0.4

919

25

38

Flathead

2.7

0.2

54932

1268

39

Granite

2.8

0

1623

10

39

Silver Bow

2.8

0

17927

268

41

Broadwater

2.9

-0.2

2834

46

41

Musselshell

2.9

0.1

2274

32

43

Blaine

3

-0.3

2071

19

43

Treasure

3

0.5

321

7

45

Chouteau

3.1

0.7

2414

60

45

Lake

3.1

0

14182

-271

45

Petroleum

3.1

-0.1

252

8

45

Pondera

3.1

0.5

2542

64

49

Phillips

3.3

-0.3

1673

-3

50

Roosevelt

3.5

0

4096

-85

50

Rosebud

3.5

-0.5

3365

-47

52

Mineral

3.7

-0.5

1925

-11

53

Big Horn

3.8

-0.6

4353

-31

53

Sanders

3.8

0.2

5511

205

55

Lincoln

4

0.1

8639

58

56

Glacier

4.7

-0.2

5721

-202

****** 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 2.5%. 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

Area

Current Unemployment Rate

Change over Year

Current Employment

Job Change from Last Year

1

Flathead

3.3

0.1

13952

-194

2

Fort Peck

4.2

-0.1

3697

-68

3

Crow

5.7

-1

2253

-16

4

Blackfeet

6.8

0

4020

-128

5

Fort Belknap

7.2

-0.6

682

6

6

Northern Cheyenne

8.3

-1.1

1189

-14

7

Rocky Boy's

8.8

-0.1

1073

32

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