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As the new BBER director in the late 1980s, I often came back to my office after a stressful meeting in Main Hall (or Helena) and opened up a file [...]

2020 was a wild ride! We had the COVID-19 pandemic, which upended most of our lives, and now housing prices have gone through the roof. According to the Wall Street [...]

Economists are sometimes accused of having little foresight, like a driver traveling at 90 mph with their eyes on the rearview mirror. But accurate economic analysis requires up-to-date information, and [...]

There have been a number of reports, mostly in the media, describing how rural timber-dependent communities are faring in the wake of a decades-long decline in employment and mill closings. [...]

Montana has slightly more than 1 million residents and a reputation for open spaces and vast panoramas. Yet most Montanans live in cities and towns. These communities are varied and [...]

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused significant changes in energy demand and supply in 2020 and will continue to affect these patterns in the future. Here in Montana, the primary impacts [...]

Almost all regions of the world are now growing. Global economic growth will be about 3.7 percent in 2018, and Goldman Sachs projects it will accelerate to 4 percent in [...]

The American energy boom began with improvements in technology. Advances in geophysics, nanotechnology engineering and production management led to the shale-energy revolution and a dramatic increase in U.S. energy production. [...]

Editor's note: During the 2015 Montana Economic Outlook Seminar series, bureau economists and industry experts presented the latest economic trends and forecasts. The keynote speaker, Bill W hitsitt, retired Devon [...]

The transportation industry is closely tied to economic conditions because it carries goods and materials to and from Montana and from one part of the nation to another. The latest [...]

The new American energy boom has been a bonanza for federal and state government revenues. In Montana, the oil and gas industry paid about $282.1 million in taxes, royalties, leases, [...]

After arriving in Missoula as a newly minted Ph.D. economist in 1968, a hot-off-the-press issue of the Montana Business Quarterly was deposited on my desk. This was my introduction to [...]

The federal government plays an important role in the national and state economies, having spent more than $3 trillion throughout the U.S. and almost $11 billion in Montana in fiscal [...]

While the energy boom is taking place in, rural eastern Montana, 42 of Montana s counties--including urban and western counties--are directly impacted by energy transportation systems (Figure 1). Most energy--coal, [...]

There is almost no place in Montana that escaped the Great Recession. But the course of the recession did vary from county to county within the state. How did the [...]

There is almost no place in Montana that escaped this recession, but the recession impacts do vary from city to city. This article looks at the way the recession is [...]

Prime topics of conversation in Sidney and throughout the Bakken area are the latest rumors and speculations about the price of oil. Some people are wondering what the impact of [...]

Montana's economic outlook has darkened during the past year as a national economic slowdown concentrated in a few industries (most of which aren't important here) spread to more and more [...]

Manufacturing has helped lift the U.S. economy out of the Great Recession and is experiencing a resurgence throughout the nation. In Montana, there are about 3,400 manufacturing firms accounting for [...]

Wheat selling at greater than $8/bushel turbocharged the crops sector of Montana agriculture during late 2007. Montana's economic base is now firing on almost all cylinders, and the state is [...]

Montana's economic boom is spreading, with all major sectors of the economic base now participating. Growth has taken place in manufacturing, nonresident travel, agriculture, mining, and the federal government. Buoyant [...]

We live in a fast-paced, ever-evolving world. Consumers may believe they are paying a hefty price for that change every time they pull into a gas station and pay nearly [...]

Last summer, the Bureau of Business and Economic Research did something we have never done before. We issued a revised forecast, primarily reflecting the oil boom in eastern Montana. Obviously, [...]

Ever the maverick, Montana continues to show economic trends decidedly different than those seen nationally. For example, compare employment growth in Montana to the nation as a whole. If you [...]

Characteristics of American Indians on Montana Reservations The decennial census provides unique once-a-decade data on a variety of economic and demographic characteristics. The 2000 Census included a new feature allowing [...]

Montana's overall economic performance from 2001 to 2003 was well above the national average. The impacts of the 2001 recession and the aftermath of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks were [...]

Montana has consistently ranked high in terms of short-term economic performance during 2001 and 2002. A recent release by Economy.com ranked Montana fourth behind Nevada, Alaska, and Wyoming in terms [...]

Recent initiatives to limit gambling in Montana have failed, implying that many of the state's residents recognize and accept gambling as a form of recreation and entertainment. Nevertheless, this topic [...]

Montana will probably not completely escape the effects of the terrorist attacks, but the latest data suggest that the impacts may be concentrated in a few regions. In order to [...]

Con Schallau (*) ABSTRACT Niemi and Whitelaw present a 'model of competition' for assessing economic tradeoffs in forest management. They apply this model to the southern Appalachian region. The purpose [...]

As the 21st century draws near, the world is experiencing rapid economic and population growth, especially in developing areas such as China, Latin America, and the former Soviet Union. While [...]

Montana's Communities in 2010: How Will They Change? This year's economic projections focus primarily on Montana's urban areas, and draw from long-term forecasts recently released by the U.S. Bureau of [...]

Our forecasts this year include an additional, illuminating index, one that highlights the difference between job growth and productivity measures. But before we look at the actual and projected Gross [...]

Ours is hugely rural state compared with most others. But in terms of population and income, Montana's growth is increasingly concentrated in its seven 'urban' or trade and service center [...]

After two years of outpacing prevailing national growth rates, Montana's statewide economy leveled off in 1994. Data for last year point to a roughly 2.0 percent rise in nonfarm labor [...]

Finally, the 'dismal science' has some good news to report. For the third year in a row, Montana's economy has grown--a circumstance we haven't seen since 1979. Moreover, our state [...]

Timber shortages loom throughout the Pacific Northwest due to an array of issues including protection of the spotted owl and other threatened or endangered species, appeals of timber sales, limited [...]

The news media have reported a number of positive stories concerning the Montana economy. First, there have been reports of buoyant real estate markets and increased construction activity. Secondly, news [...]

This year, our usual focus on Montana's economy will be extended to nine adjacent states and three Canadian provinces. This comparative analysis allows us to view Montana from a broader [...]

Montana's economy has it own cycles and trends, but at some level it mirrors the national economic picture. It's the national trends we'll look at first in order to understand [...]

The State and Local Outlook: 1990 This issue of the Quarterly contains the presentations made at the annual Economic Outlook Seminars held in January and February in cities throughout the [...]

Montana's economic boom continues! The 2.3 percent unemployment rate recently released by the Montana Department of Labor and Industry is the latest data confirming this trend. For the fifth straight [...]

Montana has experienced a radical shake-up in economic growth in the past few years, with some of the state's easternmost and rural counties growing faster than its western and urban [...]

The U.S. Census Bureau just released new population estimates for the state of Montana and each of its 56 counties. In 2005, Montana's population was estimated at about 935,700, up [...]

Montana gas prices are now more than $2.00 a gallon. We've had high gas prices for a while. The last time we paid less than a dollar was three years [...]