Montana’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate increased slightly by 0.1 points in January to 6.8 percent. Meanwhile, the national unemployment rate fell from 10 percent to 9.7 percent in January.

“The U.S. economy showed positive Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth in the second half of 2009, but employment growth lags behind a recovery in GDP,” labor commissioner Keith Kelly said. “We hope this economic recovery continues so that unemployed Montanans can return to work in the upcoming months.”

Seasonally adjusted, non-agricultural, payroll employment posted job gains of 1,700 jobs, with the construction and trade industries showing signs of recovery by adding jobs. The total number of Montanans who are working, including agricultural, payroll and self-employed workers, changed little with a loss of 667 jobs on a seasonally adjusted basis. The labor force, defined as those who are employed or looking for work, also showed little change, declining by 144. The Montana Department of Labor also released the final benchmarked revisions to 2009 labor market data. Benchmark revisions are made annually to improve accuracy and remove variability in the monthly estimates. The revisions did not substantially change the slow, but steady, increase in Montana’s unemployment rate since the start of the national recession in December 2007.

The seasonally adjusted consumer price index (CPI-U) rose 0.2 percent in January due to an increase in the energy index, led by gasoline price increases.