Montana’s unemployment rate inches up to 7.1 percent in March from previous month
By APFriday, April 16, 2010
Mont.’s jobless rate rises to 7.1 percent in March
HELENA, Mont. — The state Labor Department says Montana’s March unemployment rate inched up, even as the state added jobs.
Montana’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in March was 7.1 percent, an increase of 0.2 percantage points from February. The national unemployment rate held steady at 9.7 percent in March.
Labor Commissioner Keith Kelly said Friday the state added 400 jobs in March, the second month in a row of job growth.
He says several indicators are pointing to an economic recovery which has resulted in people re-entering the labor force at a faster rate than jobs are being created, thus increasing the unemployment rate.
Senior economist Barbara Wagner says the last time Montana’s unemployment rate was 7.1 percent was in September 1987. The rate was above 8 percent during the early 1980s.
