Montana's unemployment rate fell last month to a record low. That's only part of the state's overall workforce picture.
Gov. Greg Gianforte announced that the unemployment rate hit 2.8 percent in November. He also reported the creation of 3,000 new jobs the same month, according to the Federal Bureau of Labor Statistics, Montana's unemployment rate has more than rebounded after it peaked in the early days of the pandemic. Gianforte says he'll continue to push his "pro-jobs, pro-growth agenda," iinto the new year.
The story of Montana's labor force is more complicated than the unemployment number. The state is simultaneously seeing all-time low labor-force participation.
"So that's like how many people are actually trying to find jobs or are employed.".
Carly Urban is a professor of economics at Montana State University. She says it's positive that people looking for jobs are finding them. But the state last month also had the second highest rate in the country for people quitting their jobs.
"That, to me, says that there's something going on, particularly in states where service industry is big.".
The seasonally adjusted number of hospitality employees in the state is down by 1,500 workers.
Urban says she believes the labor force participation drop can be attributed to job conditions and the lack of affordable child care in Montana.
