Montana Reaches 23rd Consecutive Month of Unemployment Below 3%

• October 20 2023

HELENA, Mont. – Governor Greg Gianforte today announced Montana reached its 23rd consecutive month of unemployment below 3%. Prior to the governor taking office, Montana’s unemployment rate had fallen below 3% only three times since record-keeping began 50 years ago.

“Thanks to the hard work of job creators and our pro-jobs, pro-business policies, Montanans have more opportunity than ever before to obtain and thrive in a good-paying job – from high tech to the construction trades,” Gov. Gianforte said. “Employees with our Montana work ethic are in high demand, and we’ll continue to develop workforce talent pipelines to meet the needs of industry and our growing economy.”

Montanans have created more than 8,400 jobs in 2023 and more than 40,000 jobs since Gov. Gianforte took office in January 2021.

In September, Montana’s labor force grew by more than 625 workers, adding more than 8,000 workers since the start of the year.

Under Gov. Gianforte’s leadership, more Montanans are working than ever before.

Montana’s unemployment rate of 2.7% is more than a percentage point below the national unemployment rate of 3.8% in September.

In September, the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) rose 0.4% over-the-month. Shelter and gasoline were again the largest contributor to the monthly all items increase. The 12-month change in the all-items index was 3.7%. 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 September, core inflation was 4.1%.

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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 October 2023, will be released on Friday, November 17^th.

**** 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 2.4%. 

****** 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 2.4%. Reservation areas overlap with county areas, meaning that unemployed individuals living on a reservation will be included in both the reservation and county totals.

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