Healthcare Leads Lewis and Clark County Job Growth as Government Jobs Decline

Healthcare emerged as the fastest-growing industry in Lewis and Clark County in the year ending December 2025, even as the county recorded an overall employment dip and a sharp decline in government payrolls. Amy Watson, chief economist at the Montana Department of Labor and Industry, said, “So over the last 12 months ending in December, we've seen about .3% decline in total employment.” The county unemployment rate sits at 3.6 percent.

Watson framed the slowdown as short-term amid longer-term gains, saying, “Our employment projections are positive over the next 10 years. We project modest but consistent growth over the next decade in a wide variety of industries and in our area in particular.” DLI projections point to continued demand for health-care workers even as other sectors adjust to shifting population patterns since the 2020 pandemic.

Helena College’s nursing program is a key local pipeline into that demand. Sevda Raghib, Helena College director of nursing, said, “I can't remember a time where our data shows that a student went more than 6 months without a job,” and added, “Most of them are employed within minutes after graduation, if not days.” Raghib told local reporters that 86 percent of the program’s nursing students stay in the Helena area and that many students hold support-service roles with local hospitals and clinics while enrolled.

Historic industry patterns help explain the county’s mix of gains and losses. LMI MT data show manufacturing and construction led growth from 2014 to 2019, manufacturing grew at 4.0% and construction at 2.9% over that span, yet manufacturing still makes up only 2.6% of county jobs and construction 4.0% of payroll jobs. In 2020 healthcare, trade (retail and wholesale) and leisure combined accounted for 38% of jobs while government accounted for 29%.

DLI economists say changing migration after the pandemic initially drove up demand for construction and retail and accommodation and food service, but “we just aren't seeing the same level of in-migration so then that causes some slowdown.” Local reporting identified government as the sector with the largest 2025 decline, “losing almost 200 employees in 2025,” and noted that some officials attribute part of that drop to federal-level changes, “including the shutdown towards the end of 2025,” while describing the net loss as a return toward normal levels.

Regional planning documents underline other local employers that shape labor demand: Fort Harrison employs more than 1,000 military and civilian personnel, and Helena planning notes Boeing plans that could add up to 200 manufacturing jobs in coming years. Separately, Washington’s Employment Security Department reports that Lewis County, Washington, a different county, had 27,520 jobs and a 6.6% unemployment rate in December 2025, figures that should not be conflated with Lewis and Clark County, Montana.

With DLI forecasting modest but steady growth and Helena College placing most graduates locally, county officials and workforce programs are positioned to keep healthcare at the center of Lewis and Clark County’s labor-market recovery over the next decade.