Flathead County’s unemployment rate improved during the first four months of 2016, posting at 5.6 percent in April.

That compares to 7.3 percent unemployment in January. The county has a workforce of 42,061 people.

Jobless numbers also have improved in Lincoln County, where the April unemployment rate was 9.3 percent, still one of the highest rates in Montana. Lincoln County had the highest unemployment rate of any Montana county in January at 12.6 percent.

Sanders County reported 7.5 percent unemployment in April, compared to 10.9 percent in January, according to state Department of Labor statistics. Lake County had 4.2 percent unemployment, compared to 5.9 percent in January.

The effect of continuing low oil prices is beginning to show in Eastern Montana unemployment numbers. During the Bakken boom, Richland County posted unusually low unemployment rates, often under 2 percent.

In April, Richland County reported 5.4 percent, only slightly better than Flathead County. Richland County also lost more than 500 jobs during April.

Montana’s unemployment rate decreased slightly in April, down one-tenth of a percentage point to 4.2 percent. The U.S. unemployment rate held steady at 5.0 percent.

“Montana’s economy continues to grow and diversify, creating new opportunities for our Montana businesses to succeed, expand, and hire more workers,” Gov. Steve Bullock said in a prepared statement. “We must continue to ensure that those businesses have a pipeline of highly trained, skilled Montanans to fill the good-paying jobs being created.”

Payroll employment added 2,000 jobs statewide in April, contributing to a total gain of 5,500 payroll jobs since the start of 2016.

Total employment estimates, which include agricultural and self-employed workers along with payroll workers, experienced a statistically insignificant decrease of 131 jobs while the number of unemployed people also experienced a decline of 471.