Local jobs number the best in four years

Flathead County’s unemployment rate improved to 7.9 percent in July, the best report since before the recession began four years ago.

The unemployment rate hasn’t been this low since November 2008 when it was 7.7 percent, just before the area slipped into the depths of the economic downturn.

In August 2008 the jobless rate had been just 4.8 percent, but by November 2009 Flathead County’s unemployment rate had climbed to double digits, where it stubbornly remained for the next three and a half years.

“Things are just getting better,” Flathead Job Service manager Bill Nelson said. “We have over 400 jobs listed, and we had been down to double digits, in the 60-job range.”

July’s unemployment rate of 7.9 percent was an improvement from June, when it was 8.5 percent.

The labor force is increasing again and that’s good news, too, Nelson said.

Flathead’s labor force in July was 46,104 people, compared to 45,584 in June. That means many people who had given up on the local job market are once again actively seeking work.

Nelson said the upswing in job openings is evident across the board, from positions in the medical field to construction and heavy equipment jobs and some engineering positions.

“I think employers are more confident now,” he said.

In Lincoln County the unemployment rate improved slightly, from 12.8 percent in June to 12.6 percent in July. Sanders County’s rate stayed the same, at 12.6 percent. Those two Northwest Montana counties continue to have the highest unemployment rates in the state.

Eastern Montana continues to experience drastically low unemployment because of the Bakken oil boom. Richland County, where Sidney is the county seat, has 3 percent unemployment, while sparsely populated Wibaux County has just 2.7 percent unemployment — a total of 17 people out of work.

Statewide the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate increased slightly, from 6.3 percent in June to 6.4 percent in July, with employment slipping about 700 jobs. The national unemployment rate is 8.3 percent.

County unemployment numbers are not seasonally adjusted. Seasonally adjusted numbers remove the effects of events that follow a more or less regular month-to-month pattern each year.

“Montana has seen a gain of almost 4,200 jobs since January,” Labor Commissioner Keith Kelly said. “Employment is much higher than at the start of the year and despite the small job loss this month the trends indicate we will continue to add more jobs this year.”

Features editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or by email at lhintze@dailyinterlake.com.