Montana’s Unemployment Rate at 2.8%

Ranks in the top five state with lowest unemployment

• August 19 2025

HELENA, Mont. – Governor Greg Gianforte today announced Montana’s unemployment rate remained at 2.8% in July, marking the tenth straight month under 3% and over four consecutive years of unemployment at or below 3.4%, a new record.

“For another consecutive month, Montana ranks in the top five states in the nation with the lowest unemployment rates – a testament to our historic job growth over the last four years,” Gov. Gianforte said. “We’ll continue to welcome historic business investment to the Treasure State and innovate through workforce development initiatives like 406 JOBS for Montanans to seek meaningful employment.”

Montana’s unemployment rate was 1.4% lower than the national unemployment rate, which was 4.2% in July. Montana ranked in the top five states in the nation with the lowest unemployment rates.

Total employment (which includes payroll, agricultural, and self-employed workers) increased slightly in July. The construction and retail trade industries added the most jobs over the month, each adding 500 or more jobs. Payroll jobs increased by 500 jobs over the month with losses in government employment.

The month of July marked the fifth consecutive month where the number of unemployed Montanans remained below 16,000 – near the record low of just under 14,000 which was reached in 2023.

The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) increased 0.2% on a seasonally adjusted basis in July. The index for shelter rose 0.2% in June, the primary factor for the monthly all items increase. Over the last 12 months, the all-items index rose 2.7% with core inflation rising 3.1%. The index for all items minus food and energy, or core inflation, rose 0.3% in July.

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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 %age points at the 90 % 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 August 2025, will be released on Friday September 19th.

**** 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 2.7%. 

****** 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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