MONTANA BUSINESS QUARTERLY

Volume 48, Number 3, Autumn  2010

Montana's Economy

Making Sense of Mixed Signals

by

Patrick M. Barkey

Stubbornly high unemployment rates, permanent closures in key industrial facilities, and budget pressures on state and local government have arrived along with the recession in Montana. It is important to continue assessing the state of our economic recovery so that we can make good decisions for the coming years.

Health Insurance Exchanges Unlikely to Cause Labor Market Disruptions

by

Gregg Davis

One could expect that households of equal size, comparable health, and identical incomes should face the same financial obligations in purchasing comparable health care insurance. However, households of identical family size and incomes will face vastly different incentives under the subsidy and cost-share programs approved by the House and signed into law by the President.

More Montanans Have Health Insurance than at Beginning of Decade

by

Gregg Davis

Despite nearly two and half years of recession, fewer Montanans are uninsured today than in 2000. And for single coverage in the job-based insurance market, employers seem to be absorbing more of the health insurance costs today than in 2000.

Permanent Closures at Major Facilities Hamper Montana's Manufacturing Industry

by

Charles E. Keegan III, Todd A. Morgan, Jason Brandt, and John Baldridge

The full force of the global financial crisis and recession did not hit Montana manufacturers until late in 2008, leading to substantial declines in 2009, with employment down by nearly 2,500 workers. Value of production dropped by an estimated $1 billion, and income to workers fell by more than $100 million during 2009.