Flathead jobless numbers improve

Flathead County’s jobless rate continued to improve in June, with the unemployment rate posting at 8.5 percent. That’s a 0.7 percent improvement over May, when the rate was 9.2 percent.

The June rate also is considerably better than the same month a year ago, when the unemployment rate was 11.4 percent.

Flathead County had a labor force of 45,584 people in June, with 3,889 unemployed.

Neighboring counties also saw improvement in June. Lincoln County’s unemployment rate improved to 12.8 percent in June, from 13.2 percent in May. Sanders County’s jobless rate was only slightly better, dropping from 12.8 to 12.6 percent.

Statewide, the unemployment rate held steady at 6.3 percent in June, with about 1,000 jobs added over the month. The national rate also is holding steady, at 8.2 percent in June.

“Montana continues to post strong job growth, despite concerns about slow growth nationally,” said Labor Commissioner Keith Kelly. “Montana has added almost 10,000 jobs over the past year.”