Montana jobless rate at 10-year low

Montana’s unemployment rate has reached a more than 10-year low, decreasing 0.1 percentage points to 3.5% in the month of June.

Flathead County posted 4% unemployment in June, with a workforce of 47,182 people, according to the Montana Department of Labor and Industry. That’s slightly up from May’s jobless rate of 3.7%

Neighboring counties also have relatively low unemployment rates, though there were slight upticks in jobless numbers. Lincoln County’s rate increased from 5.5% to 5.8%; Sanders County increased from 4.4% to 5.1% and Lake County increased from 3.3% to 3.8%.

The national unemployment rate increased 0.1 percentage points in June to 3.7%.

Montana’s total employment, which includes agricultural, payroll and self-employed workers, indicated a gain of 1,019 jobs in June, while the labor force only grew by 499. Payroll employment had significant job gains over the month with 2,200 jobs added. Job gains were widespread across industries, with the largest increases in the leisure and hospitality sector with 900 jobs added.