Flathead County’s unemployment rate has dropped to its lowest level in more than six years.

The September jobless rate posted at 4.8 percent, down from 5.1 percent in August. The last time it dropped that low was in August 2008, Flathead Job Service Manager Bill Nelson said.

Nelson began tracking unemployment statistics in mid-2008 because Columbia Falls Aluminum Co. was laying off workers and preparing to shutter the plant. The national recession also was having a growing effect on the Flathead Valley around that time.

There are plenty of job openings now in the Flathead, Nelson acknowledged. The Job Service office in Kalispell has more than 430 jobs listed.

“It’s kind of across the board,” Nelson said. “There’s a lot of retail. We know TeleTech has increased wages and is looking for people. The ski resorts are hiring again.”

TeleTech conducted a job fair Tuesday to try to fill 195 positions.

While the current unemployment rate mirrors the August 2008 rate, what has changed is the number of people in the labor force. Flathead’s total labor force in September was 45,109 people; that compares to a work force of more than 48,000 people in 2008.

As the recession set in several years ago and construction jobs dried up locally, hundreds of local workers found jobs in the Bakken oil fields of Eastern Montana and Western North Dakota. That out-of-area employment remains a factor in the local work force.

Flathead County had 42,941 people employed in September, down from 44,764 in August.

Even though the unemployment rate is improving, there is an explanation why fewer people are employed, said Barbara Wagner, chief economist with the state Department of Labor’s Research and Analysis Bureau.

“The answer is that the county labor market data is not seasonally adjusted,” Wagner explained. “Employment and the labor force will always decrease in September on an unadjusted basis as construction workers and summer leisure activities workers stop working.”

Because of that, the state doesn’t use over-the-month changes when looking at county level data.

“We use over-the-year changes because that will remove the impacts of seasonality,” Wagner said. “Flathead County has 1,329 more jobs this September than it did last September, which is why the unemployment rate is 1.5 percentage points lower than last year.”

Surrounding counties likewise showed improved unemployment rates in September.

Lincoln County’s unemployment rate dropped to 8.7 percent, down from 9.9 percent in August.

Sanders County’s September rate was 8.2 percent, down from 9.9 percent in August.

Lake County also improved, from 6.1 percent to 5.3 percent.

“Typically we’ll start seeing rates creep up through the winter,” Nelson said. “We always expect that, because we employ so many more in the summer.”

Statewide, the unemployment rate was down 0.1 percent in September to 4.6 percent.

“With nearly 1,000 jobs added last month, Montana’s economy continues its strong growth,” Gov. Steve Bullock said in a press release. “Main Street Montana businesses are hiring, and more workers are on the job, which continues to fuel our growing economy.”

The Flathead Job Service is planning a fall job fair from 4 to 7 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 29, at Kalispell Center Mall.

Features editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or by email at lhintze@dailyinterlake.com.