Montana’s Unemployment Remains Near Historic Low in May

Total employment reaches another all-time high under Governor Gianforte’s leadership

• June 25 2024

HELENA, Mont. – Governor Greg Gianforte today announced that Montana’s unemployment rate remained at 3.1% in May, near the historic, all-time low of 2.3%.  

Montana’s unemployment rate remains nearly one percent below the national rate of 4%.  

“Even in the face of Joe Biden’s affordability crisis, 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.”  

Since Gov. Gianforte took office in January 2021, nearly 40,000 jobs have been created in Montana. Under his leadership, total employment reached another all-time high in May.  

Total employment and the number of people in the labor force were mostly unchanged in May, leading to no change in the unemployment rate. Payroll employment showed strong gains, adding 3,000 jobs in May, with the Leisure Activities sector, which includes accommodations, food service, and recreation, leading private sector gains.  

The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) was unchanged in May, on a seasonally adjusted basis, for a 12-month change of 3.3%. Energy prices were down over-the-month, led by declines in the gasoline index. These declines were offset by increases in the indices for shelter and food. The index for all items minus food and energy, or core inflation, rose 0.2% in May.  

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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.  

**** 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 2.9%.    

****** 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 2.9%. 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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