Post by Logan on Feb 29, 2016 1:59:07 GMT -6
HELENA — As he introduces himself to Montana voters, Republican Greg Gianforte has tried to take the sheen off the state's mostly glowing economic numbers.
Montana's unemployment rate is a full point below the national number, and incomes are rising. And Gov. Steve Bullock, who is campaigning for a second term, is touting what some outside analysts call an "ecosystem of entrepreneurship."
But as Gianforte makes his bid to oust Bullock from the governor's mansion, the Bozeman businessman has pounced on one particular statistic: Montana's rank as 49th in the country in wages — behind only Mississippi.
There's little dispute that wages in Montana are among the lowest in the country, but the metric is a lot more complicated, economists say.
Read more: billingsgazette.com/news/state-and-regional/montana/montana-gubernatorial-race-puts-spotlight-on-low-wages/article_496ad364-57b1-523a-8148-e7f827b5a70b.html
Montana's unemployment rate is a full point below the national number, and incomes are rising. And Gov. Steve Bullock, who is campaigning for a second term, is touting what some outside analysts call an "ecosystem of entrepreneurship."
But as Gianforte makes his bid to oust Bullock from the governor's mansion, the Bozeman businessman has pounced on one particular statistic: Montana's rank as 49th in the country in wages — behind only Mississippi.
There's little dispute that wages in Montana are among the lowest in the country, but the metric is a lot more complicated, economists say.
Read more: billingsgazette.com/news/state-and-regional/montana/montana-gubernatorial-race-puts-spotlight-on-low-wages/article_496ad364-57b1-523a-8148-e7f827b5a70b.html