Flathead County’s unemployment rate decreased again in August, dropping to 10.2 percent from 10.8 percent a month prior. It is the fifth straight month the county’s non-seasonally adjusted jobless numbers have fallen. Statewide, however, the rate continues to rise.
Flathead’s unemployment rate reached a record-breaking 13.8 percent in March, but has fallen considerably since then. It is still well above the mark recorded in August 2009 and currently the fifth-highest rate in the state, behind neighboring Lincoln, Sanders and Glacier counties and eastern Montana’s Big Horn County, according to the Montana Department of Labor and Industry.
Statewide, the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate increased slightly in August, rising .1 percent to 7.4 percent.
The national unemployment rate increased by the same amount, rising to 9.6 percent.
Labor Director Keith Kelly says that even though both the state and national economies are in recovery, job growth remains slow.
Flathead unemployment rates by month:
August: 10.2%
July: 10.8%
June: 11.4%
May 2010: 11.5%
April 2010: 12.2%
March 2010: 13.8%
February 2010: 13.3%
January 2010: 13.2%
December 2009: 10.9%
November 2009: 10.1%
October 2009: 9.3%
September 2009: 8.8%
August 2009: 8.7%
See unemployment rates for every Montana county here (.pdf).
The Associated Press contributed to this report.