Jobless rate below 10 percent

For the first time in a year, the unemployment rate has dropped below double digits in Flathead County.

The Flathead jobless rate for September was 9.9 percent, according to figures released by the Montana Department of Labor and Industry.

For September, the county had 39,097 people working and 4,307 unemployed out of a work force of 43,404 people.

Flathead’s 9.9 percent represented a drop from the 10.2-percent level in August.

The last time the county’s jobless number was below 10 percent was in September 2010.

Over the past two years, the Flathead County unemployment has stayed stubbornly high, peaking at 14.1 percent in January this year and only dipping below double digits twice since October 2009.

Other Northwest Montana counties also had improved jobs numbers for September.

From August to September, Lake County’s jobless rate declined from 10.9 percent to 10 percent, Lincoln County dropped from 14.6 percent to 13 percent and Sanders County dropped from 14.7 percent to 13.3 percent.

For more information about Flathead County unemployment, see the print edition of Tuesday's Inter Lake.