inflation

Nearly 80% all survey participants reported an increase in grocery costs as well over the last six months.

The change threatens to exacerbate housing shortages and disrupt recent progress in most states toward building enough new housing for new residents.

Consumer price inflation reached 4.2% in May, the highest mark in three years, boosted largely by higher energy prices that have spiked because of the Iran war.

Figures released for April placed the state's unemployment rate at 3.5%, lower than the 4.3% nationally. The rate in Missoula County hit 2.8% while Ravalli County reported a rate of 3.2%.

Economists explained away dismal GDP due to last year's government shutdown, but resurgent inflation has Wall Street worried.

While core inflation increased, Montana's unemployment rate held steady at 2.8% in July, making it the 10th straight month with a rate below 3%.

Ken Toole writes, "It should come as no surprise that corporate leaders see an opportunity to maximize their profit in the face of a crisis like the pandemic."

The inflation metric most closely watched by the Federal Reserve — the personal consumption expenditures index by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis — showed that prices are coming down.

As the governor extended the deadline Monday for Montana residents to apply for property tax relief, leaders in Missoula gathered to discuss the state of the community, where inflationary costs and taxation played a central theme.

Stocks rallied in 2023, as investor momentum picked up with the shrinking threat of recession, diminishing inflation and the increasing likelihood of a soft economic landing.