HELENA – Montana’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate held steady at 3.4% in December, the Department of Labor said Friday.
Total employment — which includes agricultural, payroll and self-employed workers — grew by 1,200 jobs in December while the labor force grew by 1,400 workers, the agency said.
Payroll employment remained flat last month.
Carter County in the southeastern Montana has the lowest unemployment rate at 1.9% while Lincoln County in northwestern Montana had the highest county unemployment rate at 8.5%.
The unemployment rates on the Blackfeet, Crow, Fort Belknap, Northern Cheyenne and Rocky Boy’s Indian reservations ranged from 10.1% to 10.7%, the Department of Labor and Industry said.
The federal unemployment rate was unchanged at 3.5%.