Montana News
Montana sees fifth-highest job growth in the country since the onset of the pandemic
With Montana News, I'm Elinor Smith. Montana ranks in the top five states for increased employment and wage growth since the pandemic. MTPR's John Hooks looks at what industries are driving that growth. - Montana added more than 75,000 jobs since the onset of the pandemic. That gives Montana the fifth highest job growth in the nation in that time, according to market analysts with S&P Global. The bulk of those jobs are in the healthcare, education and tourism fields. Those industries experienced big losses during COVID, but now employ more people than before the pandemic. Tech work and other professional services also saw significant growth. Nick Holum is an economist with the Montana Department of Labor and Industry. He told state lawmakers this month that increase was driven by remote workers moving to Montana from other states. - We saw an increase, our doubling of work from home, pre-pandemic to post-pandemic and a lot of those workers fall within that industry. - Montana is in the top five, four growth in average hourly wage and a net income nationwide. That growth is largest for high earners living in large urban areas. For rural and working class, Montana's wage growth has largely paralleled inflation. Carl Keikendel is an analyst with S&P. He told lawmakers Montana's growth is likely to slow down incoming years, but still remain above the national average. - We do expect relative growth in Montana to remain strong. So we are forecasting employment and real GDP growth in Montana to rank among the top 15 states over the next five years. - Keikendel and Helloem presented their analyses this month to lawmakers on the interim revenue committee. In Butte, I'm John Hooks. - This is MTPR.