Local jobless rate down to 9.8 percent

The local job situation has shown some improvement, with the Flathead County unemployment rate dropping from 10.6 percent in January to 9.8 percent during February.

According to figures released Friday by the Montana Department of Labor and Industry, Flathead County had 38,596 people working and 4,196 unemployed out of a work force of 42,791.

The Flathead jobless rate had been 9.1 percent in December. A year ago, the unemployment rate in February was 10.7 percent.

Unemployment numbers in other Northwest Montana counties also improved slightly in February.

Lincoln County’s jobless rate dropped from 17.2 to 16.3 percent and Lake County’s number dipped from 9.7 to 9.3 percent.

Statewide, the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate dropped from 5.7 to 5.6 percent.

Individual county numbers are not seasonally adjusted.