Today, jobs are the hot topic

LAKE COUNTY — Lake County’s unemployment rate increased 1.7 percent in January, settling at 10 percent, leaving 1,132 of the county’s 11,374 labor force-ready residents without jobs.

The state as a whole saw the unemployment rate climb to 5.6 percent in January, while Sanders County topped the list at 17.7 percent. Flathead County’s unemployment rate hiked to 11.3 percent.

The unsettling numbers are higher than any in recent years, and while Lake County is following the national trend in the struggling economy, it hasn’t seen the unprecedented spike in unemployment percentages as several of its neighboring counties.

That’s a piece of the good news, Lake County Job Service manager Debra Krantz said.

People who stop by the Job Service office on Main Street in Polson will find 55 jobs posted. “There are jobs,” Krantz said, “but it’s competitive.”

Both Missoula and Flathead counties, with a higher population, are barely hovering at 100 job postings, she said.

A factor keeping Lake County below nearby counties is the fact that Lake County doesn’t have as many large employers, like Flathead County’s SemiTool, Krantz said.

The top 15 private employers include only one “class 7” business, St. Luke Community Hospital, which employees 250-499 employees.

According to second quarter Montana Department and Labor statistics, six others fall under the “class 6” category, employing 100-249 employees.

Jore Corporation in Ronan is one of those class 6 businesses.

After laying off a “significant” number of employees last year, the company is down to 150 employees, “the lowest we’ve ever been,” president Mick Cheff said.

However, the company hasn’t lost a customer in 16 months Cheff said, and doesn’t anticipated having to go any deeper with cuts.

“Just from our standpoint, we feel like we’ve held pretty strong . . . we have maintained all of our customers,” Cheff said. “We have been awarded two new contracts but did not hire anyone else because of other economic factors, other clients have felt the slow down.”

We’re just really listening to the economy, to the news, the papers, the stocks, of what they think will happen by summer.”

Krantz said the seasonal boost the area gets is another factor that could be a plus for those seeking jobs.

For now, the DLI, which umbrellas the Job Service, announced last week that displaced workers began to receive a $25 increase in unemployment benefits through funds from the federal Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Those payments have already begun showing up in paychecks. 

To provide even more relief, Krantz has been working with other employment and benefit services to form a local Interagency Rapid Response force.

The coordination effort was requested through in initiative in early February by Governor Brian Schweitzer to “design a range of proactive strategies” in response to the dramatic job loss across the state, a letter from Schweitzer to the agencies said.

Krantz and other agencies, including those specializing in things like employment training, adult education, Medicare and Medicaid, Tribal and food assistance programs have organized a County-Wide Rapid Response to provide information about resources and ways to survive a layoff.

The event will be held from noon to 6 p.m. on Tuesday, March 31 at the Ronan Community Center. It will be an open-house for people to learn about the options available to them.

“Anyone who thinks they may benefit from those types of services, we want them to come,” Krantz said.

While the job service often meets with laid off workers who are being let go from a large company like Plum Creek, the fair will target smaller sets of individuals.

Projections for unemployment percentages in the coming months aren’t made by the DLI or the Lake County Job Service.

“I think people are just keeping their fingers crossed,” Krantz said.

SKC JOB FAIR BREAKOUT:

Salish Kootenai College’s Feb. 24 Career Fair had close to 500 participants, who browsed tables set up by nearly 102 vendors, several that were hiring.

Despite the tough times for employers, the options this year remained fairly steady, fair coordinator Terri Cordier said.

“I did expect my numbers to be down this year, . . . but those (vendors) who didn’t come, I had others step up. So, you know, there are people out there who are hiring,” Cordier said.

For high school students from local high schools the fair was a chance for vendors to tell people what they’re looking for as far as degree programs helping students know where to direct their studies, Cordier said.

The event combined the fair and a series of lectures this year, Cordier said. The lectures  were better attended than ever. “How to Survive a Layoff,” had around 54 attendees.