Montana's unemployment rate down to 3.1%; 525,000 working

HELENA, Mont. (AP) — A record number of Montana residents are working and the state's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate reached a 14-year low in October, the governor's office said Friday.

Total employment in Montana grew by nearly 2,400 jobs last month to 525,220, while the labor force expanded by nearly 1,200 workers to just over 542,000.

Montana's unemployment rate was 3.1% in October, compared to the national rate of 4.6%.

"We'll continue enacting policies that create more Montana jobs, increase opportunities, and bring the American dream into greater reach for more Montanans," Gov. Greg Gianforte said in a statement.

Montana's unemployment rate has fallen by 0.9 percentage points so far this year to the lowest rate since April 2007, when the Montana had 3% unemployment.

The lowest unemployment recorded in Montana, since data collection started in 1976, was 2.8% in February 2007.

The number of Montana residents receiving unemployment benefits fell below 17,000 in October, about 4,200 fewer than the 21,220 receiving unemployment benefits in January, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.