Jobless rate up to 7.3 percent

Flathead County’s unemployment rate continued to climb during November, a fairly common scenario during the winter season.

The county’s unemployment rate was 7.3 percent in November, compared to 6.6 percent in October. There are 3,061 unemployed workers within Flathead’s labor force of 41,918 people.

A year ago Flathead’s unemployment was 9 percent during November.

Jobless rates in neighboring counties are inching upward, too.

In Lincoln County, unemployment remains in the double digits, increasing from 12.4 percent in October to 13.5 percent in November. Sanders County jumped from 10.1 to 11.6 percent, while Lake County posted 7.4 percent in November compared to 6.9 percent in October.

Montana’s unemployment rate held steady at 5.2 percent in November. The state’s rate has declined by half a percent over the last year.

The national unemployment rate remains higher than Montana’s rate, at 7 percent in November, down 0.3 percentage points from the prior month.

“Montana’s economy continues to perform better than the rest of the nation, steadily adding jobs for our workers,” Gov. Steve Bullock said in a news release. “Strong retail sales during this holiday season will help our economy gain momentum for the next year.”

Labor Commissioner Pam Bucy said retailers hired more workers this holiday season than in prior years, which suggests greater confidence in the state’s stronger economy.

Although employment continued to expand in Montana during 2013, the job growth rate of 0.4 percent this year is slower than the above-average job growth of 2.2 percent during 2012.