The Office of the Governor of the State of Montana

09/19/2025 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 09/19/2025 09:23

Montana’s Unemployment Rate at 2.9%

Montana's Unemployment Rate at 2.9%

Remains in the top five state with lowest unemployment

Governor's Office
  • September 19 2025

HELENA, Mont. - Governor Greg Gianforte today announced Montana's unemployment rate was at 2.9% in August, marking the eleventh straight month under 3% and over four consecutive years of unemployment at or below 3.4%, a new record.

"In Montana, we're committed to working across the public and private sector to promote career pathways for all Montanans to reach their full, outstanding potential," Gov. Gianforte said. "Over the next few weeks, the Department of Labor and Industry is hitting the road to highlight this new initiative, 406 JOBS, to inform Montanans of the resources available to enter or re-enter the workforce."

Montana's unemployment rate was 1.4% lower than the national unemployment rate, which was 4.3% in August. Montana remained in the top five states in the nation with the lowest unemployment rates.

Total employment (which includes payroll, agricultural, and self-employed workers) increased slightly in August. Payroll jobs remained unchanged over the month, following the addition of 1,200 jobs in July. The transportation, accommodation, and food service industries have added the most jobs over the last three months, offsetting declines in education, manufacturing, and federal government employment.

The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) increased 0.4% on a seasonally adjusted basis in August. The index for shelter rose 0.4% in August, the primary factor for the monthly all items increase. Over the last 12 months, the all-items index rose 2.9% with core inflation rising 3.1%. The index for all items minus food and energy, or core inflation, rose 0.3% in August.

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** Unemployment figures are seasonally-adjusted. Seasonally-adjusted numbers remove the effects of events that follow a regular month-to-month pattern each year. These adjustments make non-seasonal patterns easier to identify. The margin of error for the unemployment rate is plus or minus 0.5 percentage points at the 90 percent confidence level. All questions relating to the calculation of unemployment rates should be directed to the Montana Department of Labor & Industry's Data and Operations Bureau at 406-444-4100.

The next Labor Market Information report, including data from September 2025, will be released on Tuesday October 21st.

**** INFORMATION AVAILABLE ON THE INTERNET ****

Visit our website at https://www.lmi.mt.gov for additional information and analysis, including industry employment levels, background on the unemployment rate, and wage rates by occupation. Visit https://www.lmi.mt.gov/home/job-tracking for Montana unemployment claims and current economic data.

****** COUNTY UNEMPLOYMENT RATES ******

The unemployment rate and ranking for each of Montana's 56 counties is provided below for your convenience. County unemployment rates and employment levels are not seasonally adjusted and should be compared to the unadjusted statewide unemployment rate of 2.8%.

Unemployment Rate

Employment

Rank

County

Current Unemployment Rate

Change over Year

Current Employment

Job Change from Last Year

1

Prairie

1.4

-0.1

770

7

2

Carter

1.5

-1.1

714

-4

2

Powder River

1.5

-0.8

980

78

4

Daniels

1.8

-0.1

746

-15

4

Fallon

1.8

0.2

1,510

-181

6

Liberty

1.9

-0.4

909

11

6

Meagher

1.9

-0.1

1,015

-50

8

McCone

2

-0.5

862

13

8

Park

2

-0.1

11,262

275

10

Custer

2.1

0

6,527

-30

10

Garfield

2.1

0.3

651

0

10

Richland

2.1

-0.3

5,887

43

13

Dawson

2.2

-0.2

4,359

168

14

Beaverhead

2.3

-0.1

4,843

89

14

Chouteau

2.3

0

2,823

31

14

Gallatin

2.3

0.1

74,267

-3870

14

Treasure

2.3

-0.2

388

4

18

Broadwater

2.4

0.2

3,907

-6

18

Fergus

2.4

-0.2

5,968

97

20

Judith Basin

2.5

-0.9

951

-26

20

Toole

2.5

-0.3

2,263

-24

20

Valley

2.5

0.1

3,742

-25

23

Blaine

2.6

-0.4

2,694

91

23

Carbon

2.6

0.1

5,597

3

23

Golden Valley

2.6

-1

417

19

23

Jefferson

2.6

0.1

6,080

-44

23

Sheridan

2.6

0.3

1,724

-3

23

Teton

2.6

0.2

2,918

-15

29

Flathead

2.7

0

62,148

512

29

Missoula

2.7

0

69,130

-839

29

Phillips

2.7

0.1

2,128

194

29

Powell

2.7

-0.4

2,665

35

29

Sweet Grass

2.7

1

1,791

-238

34

Lewis and Clark

2.8

0.2

36,868

-184

35

Stillwater

2.9

0.2

4,483

-3

36

Cascade

3

0

37,707

-443

36

Yellowstone

3

0.1

86,701

-23

38

Hill

3.1

0.2

6,954

66

38

Rosebud

3.1

-0.5

3,575

96

38

Silver Bow

3.1

-0.1

17,826

293

41

Ravalli

3.2

0.1

20,359

-273

42

Deer Lodge

3.3

0.3

4,496

40

42

Pondera

3.3

0.1

2,435

-74

42

Wibaux

3.3

-0.3

411

5

45

Petroleum

3.4

-1.1

229

15

45

Wheatland

3.4

0.1

740

-11

47

Mineral

3.5

-1.1

2,149

-42

48

Lake

3.7

0.4

14,793

217

49

Granite

3.9

0

1,399

58

50

Glacier

4.2

0.3

6,421

-56

51

Roosevelt

4.3

0.3

3,646

67

52

Madison

4.4

0.6

2,792

-251

52

Musselshell

4.4

0.6

1,895

15

52

Sanders

4.4

-0.2

4,952

66

55

Lincoln

4.6

-0.1

8,516

24

56

Big Horn

5.7

1.4

4,305

-141

****** RESERVATION UNEMPLOYMENT RATES ******

The unemployment rate and ranking for each of Montana's seven reservations is provided below. Reservation unemployment rates and employment levels are not seasonally adjusted and should be compared to the unadjusted statewide unemployment rate of 2.8%. Reservation areas overlap with county areas, meaning that unemployed individuals living on a reservation will be included in both the reservation and county totals.

Unemployment Rate

Employment

Rank

Area

Current Unemployment Rate

Change over Year

Current Employment

Job Change from Last Year

1

Flathead

4.3

0.4

14,185

198

2

Blackfeet

5.6

0.3

4,673

-46

3

Fort Peck

5.8

0.4

3,092

47

4

Northern Cheyenne

7.3

-0.3

1,345

7

5

Rocky Boy's

8.6

0.6

953

9

6

Crow

9.4

2.1

2,060

-61

7

Fort Belknap

11.2

-0.5

857

32

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The Office of the Governor of the State of Montana published this content on September 19, 2025, and is solely responsible for the information contained herein. Distributed via Public Technologies (PUBT), unedited and unaltered, on September 19, 2025 at 15:23 UTC. If you believe the information included in the content is inaccurate or outdated and requires editing or removal, please contact us at [email protected]