County jobless rate up 1.5 percent
Flathead County’s unemployment rate jumped to 10.6 percent in January after coming in at 9.1 percent in December 2012.
Out of the county’s work force of 42,879, there were 38,352 people with jobs and 4,527 without jobs during January, according to figures from the Montana Department of Labor and Industry.
Laura Gardner, supervisor at the Flathead Job Service, said the local numbers are not cause for concern since it is expected to see unemployment increase in the winter months.
“There are always seasonal Christmas layoffs and construction jobs are not as abundant during the cold winter months,” she said. “We’re hearing rumors of possible sequestration layoffs, but so far not enough to affect the unemployment rate, as far as we know.”
Flathead County had single-digit unemployment since April 2012 when the rate was at 10 percent. Its lowest rate of the last 12 months was September 2012, with 7.4 percent.
Gardner said that her office is feeling good about local potential, with more jobs posted than at the same time last year.
“With new businesses coming in, it’s helping create optimism,” she said, adding that jobs are becoming available in numerous sectors. “The brewery on Main Street, Cabela’s, Ashley Furniture, the new motel up by Walmart [Hilton Homewood Suites]. There’s some exciting growth that’s happening that we haven’t had over the last six or seven years.”
Gardner said the Flathead Job Service is busy enough to have plans under way for a job fair on April 18.
The latest numbers show Flathead County faring better than other Northwest Montana counties.
Lincoln County’s unemployment rate rose 2.4 percent from 14.8 percent in December to 17.2 percent in January. Sanders County’s unemployment was up to 16.4 percent from 14.1 percent and Lake County was up to 9.7 percent from 8.5 percent.
Mineral County made the biggest leap, up nearly 3 percent, from 10.8 in December to 13.7 percent in January.
Conversely, counties on the eastern edge of the state being affected by the Bakken oil boom are posting extremely low unemployment numbers, led by Fallon County’s 1.9 percent for January. Wibaux County was at 2.1 percent and Richland County 2.5 percent.
The Western Montana increases are significantly higher than the state’s overall unemployment change. Montana’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate increased slightly by 0.1 percentage points to 5.7 percent in January, hitting the same level as November 2012 after a slightly lower rate of 5.6 percent in December.
Individual county numbers are not adjusted for seasonal variations.
Montana’s unemployment rate has been on a downward trend since the end of 2010. The national rate also increased in January by 0.1 percentage points to 7.9 percent.
“Montana’s economy has made strong job gains over the last two years, gaining back most of the jobs lost during the recession and adding wages for Montana’s workers,” Labor Commissioner Pam Bucy said. “The pullback in federal funding and the expiration of the payroll tax break are expected to slow growth in the next few months, but I am confident that our economy will continue to move forward and add jobs throughout the next year.”
Both payroll employment estimates and the total employment estimates (which include payroll workers, the self-employed, and agricultural workers) posted small employment decreases from December to January of 500 jobs and 800 jobs, respectively. Continued job losses in the public sector offset gains in the health services industry. However, over the year job gains in both data series show strong employment growth of about 1.6 percent or 8,000 jobs.
The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers was unchanged for January, with prices falling over the last three months. Core inflation, measured by the all items less food and energy index, rose by 0.3 percentage points over the month, but was offset by declining gasoline prices.