County jobless rate dips 0.4 percent, at 15.9 percent

Lincoln County’s unemployment rate in March dropped four-tenths percent from February to 15.9 percent while Montana’s rate remained unchanged at 5.6 percent.

In February, 16.3 percent of Lincoln County’s workers were unemployed, which was down from the 17.2 percent in January, the highest jobless rate since January 2012.

In March, Lincoln County consisted of a workforce of 7,332 people. Of those, 6,165 were employed leaving 1,167 jobless.

While Montana’s rate remained unchanged, the national jobless rate edged down by 0.1 percentage points to 7.6 percent. Over-the-year job growth remains positive, but employment growth has slowed both nationally and in Montana.

“Last month, Montana was only 2,000 jobs away from regaining its pre-recession payroll employment peak,” said Labor Commissioner Pam Bucy. “This month’s numbers reflect a softening of the national economy because of federal efforts to address the national deficit. I remain positive that the Montana economy has sufficient momentum to carry through this soft patch, and I expect to regain our pre-recession employment peak within the next few months.”

Statewide, payroll employment posted a job loss of 700 jobs during the month, while total employment estimates (which includes payroll workers, the self-employed, and agricultural workers) suggested an employment loss of 532 jobs. Both data series showed rapid employment growth of more than 2 percent in 2012, but total employment losses in the first quarter have eroded some of the earlier job gains.  

Federal government spending cuts, increased payroll taxes, and a February spike in gas prices have all contributed to the slowdown in the first quarter. 

Falling gasoline and other energy prices resulted in a 0.2 percent decrease in the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) in March.