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Short- and long-term trends in the U.S. and Montana are pictured in employment data. |
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Are Montanans better or worse off than they were at this time last year? Check out our Index of Consumer Sentiment for more details. |
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The Annie E. Casey Foundation has recently posted data on the well-being of children at the state legislative district level. |
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The Consumer Price Index (CPI) is a widely-used measure of inflation. |
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Community profiles of prominent Montana towns. |
UNIVERSITY OF MONTANA ECONOMIST SCALES BACK MONTANA’S ECONOMIC FORECAST SLIGHTLY
A University of Montana economist has scaled back his forecast of the state's
economic performance for 2008 and 2009 – from 4 percent annual growth to 3.3 percent.
"A lot of things have happened since we released an optimistic forecast back in
February," according to Patrick Barkey, director of UM's Bureau of Business and
Economic Research. "We did our best to assess and incorporate all of the happenings in the national and global economies into our midyear forecast. Since that time, major events – particularly on Wall Street – have burst into the news anew." Click here for the full story.
Cutting the Cord: Households Dropping Land Lines for Cell Phones
Nationwide, consumers are increasingly relying on wireless services as their primary phones, some even eliminating land-line service all together. The rise in the number of people who use only cell phones presents challenges to public opinion polling and survey research, according to the latest issue of the Montana Business Quarterly. As households continue to drop land lines in favor of cell phones, survey researchers realize they may not be reaching a major segment of the population and perhaps making biased estimates of business or policy relevant opinions and behaviors. This trend could have major implications for election polling. Click here for the full story.
Impacts of Montana's Wood Products Decline Declared Far Reaching
The Missoulian - 08/12/2008 Missoula, MT... - Ongoing weakness in the U.S. housing industry and the longer-term issue of timber availability are plaguing Montana's wood products industry in 2008, with potential repercussions for years to come, according to Todd Morgan, director of forest industry research at UM's Bureau of Business and Economic Research. ... Click here for the full article.
Q&A: Former, incoming heads of UM research bureau discuss outlook for Montana
This month Patrick Barkey took over as head of the Bureau of Business and Economic Research at the University of Montana, replacing longtime director Paul Polzin.
The transition in leadership at the BBER comes just as Montana's economy is also making a major transition. The Missoulian asked Polzin and Barkey to describe what sort of changes we can expect to see in the near future.
Click here to read the full story.
Impact of Montana losing brucellosis-free status
Listen as BBER advisory board member and MSU Professor of Agricultural Economics Dr. Myles Watts describes the impact of Montana losing its brucellosis-free status on the state's ranchers and the agricultural economy during an interview with Montana Public Radio on June 11.Click here to listen
