2019 is unveiling to be a year of continued growth, according to the state’s premier economist, Pat Barkey of the Bureau of Business and Economic Research (UM), in a mid-year update of Montana’s economy, last week. “It’s a good news story,” he told his audience at the Northern Hotel in Billings.
Even though early figures indicate it might be lower, Barkey said he is standing firm with his prediction of 2.2 percent growth for the state in 2019.
Yellowstone County’s growth rate is bouncing back after having lagged other areas of the state for awhile – perhaps because of a tentative recovery in the oil patch. Only Gallatin County is currently outpacing Yellowstone County’s growth rate.
The state’s rural counties are also performing better. In aggregate they are outperforming some urban counties, coming in third behind Gallatin and Yellowstone.
According to Barkey the state has been growing steadily since 2016.
The labor market continues to tighten in Montana, a very serious problem, which will require “very real solutions,” from the private sector, he said. Over the next ten years Montana will be 50,000 people short of being able to fill the anticipated available jobs.
Contributing to the labor shortage is the aging of the babyboom generation. The median age of of the state’s population – 39.8 years — makes Montana the “oldest” western state, said Barkey. Population growth or net migration has been mitigating that impact, but in 2014 and 2015 population growth in Yellowstone County stalled. The median age for Yellowstone County is 38.3 years. CLICK HERE TO READ MORE
