Touts unemployment rate, wage growth

HELENA, MT – Governor Greg Gianforte on Jan 28th, announced the unemployment rate in December marked a year of historically low unemployment, with a record 42 consecutive months of unemployment at or below 3.4 percent.

“In Montana, our economy is strong, resilient, and full of good-paying jobs,” Gov. Gianforte said. “With our historic stretch of unemployment and with wage growth outpacing inflation in Montana over the past four years, our state continues to be a model for the nation.”

Montana’s unemployment rate fell to 3.1 percent in December, down from 3.2 percent in the previous month, and a full point lower than the national unemployment rate.

Total employment (which includes payroll, agricultural, and self-employed workers) was mostly unchanged in December and the number of unemployed workers decreased by 715. Payroll jobs increased by 100 in December, with gains in the accommodations and food service industry offset by declines in transportation, warehousing, and utilities.

The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) increased 0.4 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis in December. The index for energy rose 2.6 percent in December, accounting for over 40 percent of the increase in the monthly all-items index. The all-items index rose 2.9 percent for the 12 months ending in December. Core inflation, or the index for all-items less food and energy, rose 0.2 percent in December for a 12-month increase of 3.2 percent.

** 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.

Due to annual revisions and updating to the labor market estimates, the January 2025 Employment Situation Report will not be released until Monday, March 17th.

**** 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 3.0 percent. 

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