Local jobless rate rises to 6.2 percent
Flathead County closed out 2014 with an unemployment rate of 6.2 percent, a modest improvement over the 7.8 percent rate posted in December 2013.
The county’s jobless rate in November 2014 was 5.8 percent.
Flathead County has a workforce of 41,469 people and gained 1,748 workers during 2014, according to a Montana Department of Labor report released Tuesday.
Even though Flathead County’s unemployment rate showed some improvement throughout the past year, the county ranked 49th among Montana’s 56 counties.
Fallon County on the state’s eastern edge ranked first for the lowest unemployment rate at 1.7 percent.
Lincoln County posted the highest unemployment rate in Montana during December, at 11.5 percent, with a gain of 233 jobs last year.
Sanders County ranked 55th with a jobless rate of 10.8 percent and a loss of six jobs in 2014.
Lake County posted 6.1 percent unemployment in December, with a gain of 17 jobs for the year.
Montana’s unemployment rate continued its decline in December, down 0.1 percentage points to 4.2 percent. The unemployment rate decreased by more than a full percentage point during 2014.
The U.S. unemployment rate declined to 5.6 percent and also decreased by more than a full percentage point over the year.
“Montana finished 2014 with more employment growth, which will likely put the year into the history books as one of the strongest years for our economy,” Gov. Steve Bullock said in a prepared statement.
“Montana’s economy is continuing its momentum and promising a good year in 2015,” Labor Commissioner Pam Bucy said. “Although we continue to monitor economic performance for any negative impacts from falling oil prices, employment growth in all other industries continues unabated.”
Montana’s total employment level increased by 829 jobs in December, with 12,663 jobs added during all of 2014. These preliminary numbers indicate strong job growth of 2.6 percent in 2014, Bucy said, placing the year in the top quartile for employment growth since 1980.