Montana reaches six months of unemployment below 3%
With an unemployment rate of 2.7% in March, down from 2.8% last month, Montana has now seen six straight months of rates under 3%.
The governor's office and Department of Labor and Industry continue to praise the low seasonally adjusted unemployment rate, the third stint below 3% since the Federal Reserve began measuring the rate in the 1970s.
Coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic, Montana saw an unemployment rate below 3% for two full years from October 2021 to October 2023.
It ticked up slightly from then to 3.1% in December of that year, before slowly ticking down. March marked the 45th consecutive month of unemployment at or below 3.4%.
'For six months, Montana's unemployment rate has remained below 3%, with nearly two job openings for every unemployed worker,' Gov. Greg Gianforte said in a press release. 'Through our efforts to lower taxes and remove red tape, we've have created an environment that empowers entrepreneurs and businesses to invest and create good-paying jobs for Montanans across our state.'
The unemployment was 1.5% lower than the national rate, which came in at 4.2% in March. The state's unadjusted unemployment rate of 3.0% ranks 5th in the U.S.
The state said the labor force in Montana decreased by 572 workers last month. Data shows the state has added 1,500 payroll jobs over the last month.
Forty-four of the state's counties currently have unemployment rates below 4%, and 19 of them have seen net job gains over the last year year, according to data from the Department of Labor and Industry.
Gallatin County has seen the largest drop in employment over the last year with 348 fewer people employed this year compared to last. Missoula county, however, has seen the most growth with 860 additional people becoming employed.
Unemployment rates remain higher on the state's seven Native American reservations – ranging from a non-seasonally adjusted rate of 4.7% on the Flathead Indian Reservation up to 13.1% on Rocky Boy's reservation. All seven reservations have seen net job decreases in the last year.
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CNN
2 hours ago
- CNN
Trump's policies have already hurt New York City. Now he's threatening a federal takeover of the city
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After Mamdani won New York City's Democratic mayoral primary in June, Trump warned he may use federal power to seize control if Mamdani becomes mayor. (Mamdani's campaign did not respond to request for comment.) The Trump administration also sued to block New York City's congestion pricing program, which would choke off a key revenue source to upgrade public transit, and warned it would withhold federal funding for transit projects if New York did not comply. Many of New York City's power brokers are concerned about Trump's public attacks against the city but also about the prospects of Mamdani's victory. He has vowed to freeze rents on rent-stabilized units, make public buses free, implement universal child care and build affordable housing units. He said he would push state leaders to raise taxes on higher-income earners and corporations to pay for his plans. Many business leaders have lined up against him. 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Newsweek
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- Newsweek
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Business Insider
5 hours ago
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How Disney (DIS) Turned the Corner to Become a Winner Again
Walt Disney (DIS) stock has been trading virtually flat this year and has lost some momentum recently after reporting its fiscal Q3 results last week. This short-term weakness can likely be attributed to a revenue miss, despite a solid EPS beat. Disney's path has been relatively consistent when it comes to keeping its streaming direct-to-consumer business profitable and growing. However, the pace has been a bit uneven in the eyes of the broader market. Elevate Your Investing Strategy: Take advantage of TipRanks Premium at 50% off! Unlock powerful investing tools, advanced data, and expert analyst insights to help you invest with confidence. On the bright side, the company has done a great job controlling costs across the board, and the theme parks segment delivered strong performance—so much so that management raised its full-year guidance. With valuations looking significantly less risky compared to both their own historical averages and those of key peers, and fundamentals remaining solid—even if DTC growth hasn't been as explosive as the market hoped—I would say Disney is at a prime stage for a Buy rating. The current stock price already factors in many of the challenges and uncertainties the market has, but it also opens a window of opportunity for those (like me) who believe Disney can keep delivering steady, long-term profits. The Disney Backstory Just to recap, it's important to remember how Disney's story looked not too long ago. When Disney+ launched during the COVID-19 pandemic, the stock shot up to $200 per share. Investors were hyped about the rapid subscriber growth—tens of millions of users in just a few quarters—and it felt like streaming was going to take over entertainment forever. In those early days, the market cared way more about subscriber numbers and user growth than whether Disney was actually making money from streaming. The whole story was about scale and grabbing market share. But reality hit pretty fast. Streaming services are expensive to build and run, and Disney was burning a lot of cash investing in original content and tech. At one point, the direct-to-consumer segment was losing roughly $1 billion every quarter, so the focus shifted to when Disney would finally turn that segment profitable. Meanwhile, cable TV was losing subscribers, which raised concerns about Disney's traditional TV businesses like ESPN and its media networks. And don't forget the parks and experiences segment—a major cash cow for Disney—which took a massive hit during COVID. Even after reopening, visitor numbers bounced around, making people wonder if demand might have changed for good. The Disney Snapshot Today After the reality check that sent Disney's stock tumbling from nearly $200 to under $80 in late 2023, it's now trading at ~$112 per share, which feels more in line with where the company stands today. The direct-to-consumer (DTC) segment is now profitable and still growing. In the last quarter (fiscal Q3), Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+ combined to post around $346 million in operating profit, with the DTC segment hitting an operating margin of about 6%. Revenues in this segment also grew about 6% last quarter, according to TipRanks data. Disney even raised its full-year guidance, now expecting operating income of $1.3 billion, up from $1 billion previously. Subscriber growth remains solid, but there's some skepticism since growth is slowing down—revenue grew 8% year-over-year in fiscal Q2, but only 6% this past quarter. Competition in streaming is heating up, and content fatigue is setting in. Disney leans heavily on sequels and remakes, which feel tiring compared to competitors like Netflix (NFLX) that offer a wider range of fresh, original content. This has contributed to Disney's fading dominance at the box office. Theme parks (the experiences segment) are still doing well, with operating margins around 28%, revenue growth at 8% year-over-year, and profits up 13% in the same period. While important for Disney's overall results, the market's main focus remains on DTC since parks require heavy capital investment and are more cyclical. So even though the experiences segment is strong, it can't fully make up for slower DTC growth. Given that, I'm not surprised to see such a muted market reaction to Disney's recent results. It also helps explain why Disney has underperformed peers like Netflix (NFLX) and Warner Bros. (WBD) over the past year. Disney Shifts Focus to Profitable Growth Looking ahead, it's clear Disney is moving away from the 'growth at all costs' mindset and focusing more on sustainable profits. Bundling streaming services helps reduce churn and gives Disney more pricing power while keeping costs under control. For example, over the last nine months, Disney's revenues grew about 4.6%, while expenses increased only 1.9%, which sets the stage for more positive margin revisions. The recent plan to launch a standalone ESPN app, aimed at sports fans who want a more personalized and interactive experience, also puts Disney front and center in the live sports TV space. That said, Disney's growth story still depends on steady investment in high-quality original content and franchises, balancing pricing on streaming and sports, and turbocharging its parks. After years of just fixing problems, the company is now able to 'play offense' and move into a genuine 'building phase.' The interesting part is that, since Disney is basically in a 'reset' stage, these initiatives are piling up and starting to pay off. That makes its current stock price a pretty good buying opportunity. Disney still trades at a relevant premium— around 17.6x P/E versus a sector median of 4.5x —mainly because of its diversified business model and strong IP (intellectual property). That premium is also way lower than the multiples for main streaming peers like Netflix and Warner Bros. The better news is that Disney's earnings multiple is much less risky now compared to its average P/E of 30.5x over the past year and 26x in the last eight months. Is Walt Disney a Buy, Sell, or Hold? The consensus among analysts on Disney stock is overwhelmingly bullish. Over the past three months, 19 out of 21 analysts have rated the stock as a Buy, while only two have recommended Hold. Disney's average stock price target is $136.60, implying about 17% upside from the current stock price. Disney Finds Its Footing, But Caution Is Warranted Disney stock is no longer a slam dunk. The market now values the company more realistically, reflecting its current position. Profitability in its direct-to-consumer (DTC) segment is genuine, and growth is underway—though not spectacular—but questions remain about whether these gains can endure amid intensifying streaming competition and persistent headwinds in its linear, content, and legacy businesses. On the positive side, valuations appear reasonable. With fundamentals recently reset, Disney is well-positioned to go on the offensive in its experiences segment while sustaining solid DTC profitability. Overall, I'd rate Disney as a cautious Buy at this stage.
