Lowest Unemployment Rate (Missoula, Great Falls: insurance, loans, employment)

[Jay F]

I just read that Montana has the lowest unemployment rate in the U.S. It's an all time record low 2.0%. This is one of the lowest unemployment rates ever recorded anywhere or anytime.

[GiftShoppeGuy]

Originally Posted by Jay F

I just read that Montana has the lowest unemployment rate in the U.S. It's an all time record low 2.0%. This is one of the lowest unemployment rates ever recorded anywhere or anytime.

Yup.. we here are just full of "firsts"........ the unemployment rate is just one of many.

[MontanaGuy]

That's really good news and I have to admit it surprised me. I verified that figure in a couple of places and I see that the national unemployment figure is at 4.4%. Montana's rate has gone from 5% in 2000 to 2.0% today.

[oregonready4change]

Makes me so thankful that we are moving to Montana WITH a job already !!

[citigirl]

What is also interesting is how many people have more than one job.

[Evangeline]

When we came to Montana in 1986 you had to have a business to make a decent living. Things have changed. Great Falls is the "last best place of the last best place" still undiscovered. We have loved living here. This is the Western Art Capital of the World, with our Charlie Russell Auction each year.

[JoeJoeMan]

I've addressed this issue in another thread, but I'll reiterate.
I think the fact that the unemployment rate is so low is a reflection of a bad job situation in montana not a good one. Let me explain......
The unemployment rate is based on the number of people collecting unemployment insurance, NOT the number of people unemployed. Furthermore how that rate is actually figured has been tweaked and manipulated over the years, Slick Willie had it changed to only include people on unemployment. And when a person is done collecting unemployed you are NOT counted in the statistic anymore. Even with the current way of calculating it, it has been said that at about 4.5 percent it would be considered full employment, because a certain level of people would alse be in transition between jobs.
So what the number is saying is that Montana has very few people collecting unemployment benefits, reflecting a bad job situation, this isn't you parents umemployment rate or economy any more.
Here's some reason:
If you work under-the-table, you'll don't qualify for unemployment benifits (UB), alot of people in MT work this way. Lots of small business is this way, lot so people in montana scamble to make a buck anyway they can, haul firewood, clean yards, etc.
If you quite your job you don't qualify for UB.
If you don't keep a job very long you don't acquire enough time for UB.
So you have to actually have a 'real' job and then get laid off, note a "real" job, something we don't have many of here. We don't have those seasonal jobs where you get laid off anymore. We also have less and less people working for private companies and more and more people working at government jobs in montana, montana's economy would tank without governemnt jobs and money coming in.
Also employers have gotten' smarter, they know how to avoid pay out for UB, they hire out to 'contractors' as much as they can so there is no one to 'lay-off', even the governmet does this excessively now. Also employers try to avoid hiring actual full time works and opt to hire 3 part-timers rather than 1 full time, as such they don't have to lay you off, you'll just leave after a while. In montana we have, I'd be willing to bet, more people working part-time jobs for lousy pay, as such, they just end up quiting for something else. quit and no UB.
Also, how many people do you know that quit their job and go back to school....well no UB when you are in school even if you did happen to get laid off. Quiting your job and going back to school for a lot of people is a means of survival in MT these day, it buys your time, yuou take out the loans, etc, if you do graduate then you clear out of the state for the most part, if after a year or two you don't graduate it's to late to collect UB.
And don't forget it is in the state's best interest not to have to pay out UB, so they'll do what they can to that end.
That low rate is a reflection of the employment dynamic that exists in our state. We just don't have the same industry these days, when you use to work at the mill or where ever and get laid off.
When you less people actually in the work force (which we do) you will naturaly have less people on UB. Imagine for example if no one worked in your town, like Hamiltion were everyone is wealthy or a trust-afarian, well no one would be on UB, that rate would be 0.0. or if you live in 2-dot there are no jobs so how do you get laid-off and collect UB.
You have to be scratching your head and thinking something can't be right with that number when you look around, knowing what you know about the job situation in MT.
That 2 percent ironically is a reflection of the weak employment situation here.
Now I'm sure if you think about it you could add a few other reasons why this phenomena exists.

[MontanaGuy]

I think the fact that the unemployment rate is so low is a reflection of a bad job situation in montana not a good one.

I agree with some of what you're saying but I wouldn't go so far as saying a low employment rate is bad news. First off the calculation to determine the unemployment rate is not just based on the number of claims for unemployment benefits, thereby excluding those who have exhausted their benefits. There are actually three numbers that are used to make the calculation. Each month the census bureau makes a survey of sample households across the state and asks a series of questions to determine the employment status of the household members. This information includes those household members who are not employed and whose benefits have run out. A sample of businesses are also contacted and information is gathered there as well. State agencies are also involved in collecting this information and what finally happens is that the three sources of raw data are put into a statistical model that cross checks one against the other and after some rather complex calculations an estimate of the state unemployment is the result. It really does give a fairly accurate assessment of the employment situation in the state.

[dennis s]

I heard that Montana Has the highest tax rates in the nation. Is it true?

[montanamom]

I don't know about other areas, but in Missoula, where I work, you are lucky to find a full-time job in retail or waiting tables. There is no industry here - but it is unspoiled and scenic.