Local jobless rate dips sharply

| May 22, 2009 1:00 AM

The Daily Inter Lake

Unemployment numbers for Flathead County improved sharply in the latest state statistics.

Flathead had a 10.5 percent unemployment rate for April, a drop of 2.2 percent from March's 12.7-percent figure.

Numbers from the Montana Department of Labor and Industry show that there were 5,087 people out of work in Flathead County in April. That's down nearly 1,000 people from a month earlier.

Flathead remains one of four Montana counties, along with Sanders, Mineral and Lincoln, with double-digit unemployment.

Lincoln County had the highest jobless rate at 14.7 percent, but that was down from 16.6 percent in March. Sanders County had a jobless rate of 13.4 percent (down from 16 percent) and Mineral County's unemployment rate was 10.8 percent (down from 11.8 percent).

The statewide jobless rate for April was 6.1 percent, compared to 6.9 percent in March.

For more on this story, read Saturday's Daily Inter Lake.