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Posted 07/27/2010 10:11 AM by Blake Ellis, staff reporter

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Uncertainty about the economy continued to shake consumer confidence in July, pushing a key measure of morale to the lowest level since February.

The Conference Board, a New York-based research group, said Tuesday that its Consumer Confidence Index dropped for a second straight month, to 50.4 in July from June's upwardly revised level of 54.3.

July's reading was lower than expected. Economists had forecast the index to have ticked down to 51 in July … Click to Read More

Posted 07/26/2010 12:34 PM by Adam Bell

BOZEMAN - Economists from the University of Montana will present a mid-year economic update at a series of meetings planned across the state in the coming weeks.

Patrick Barkey and Paul Polzin of the university's Bureau of Business and Economic Research will tour state between July 29 and August 12. The presentations were organized by the Montana Chamber Foundation and will include discussions of local, state and national economic trends.

Foundation Executive Vice Preside… Click to Read More

Posted 07/26/2010 6:22 AM by Mark Thorsell

MISSOULA - Montana drivers are catching a bit of a break at the pumps as the average retail price of a gallon of gas has 0.4 cents in the past week.

The average sits at $2.83 per gallon as compared to the national average that has increased 2.4 cents per gallon in the last week to $2.74 per gallon according to gasoline price website MontanaGasPrices.com.

Posted 07/22/2010 7:51 PM

The U-S House approved legislation this afternoon to restore unemployment benefits to Americans still out of work in the wake of the 2 year long recession.

The vote largely fell along party-lines, with Republicans arguing extending benefits without having a way to pay for it is the wrong way to go.

But Democrats argued the benefits are vital to more than 2.5 million Americans who remain out of work and depend on those benefits.

President Obama then signed it into law.<… Click to Read More

Posted 07/18/2010 12:05 AM

KALISPELL - Northwest Montana's biggest race event is bringing some serious dollar signs to the Flathead Valley.

The Montana 200 has been said to be the biggest single paycheck on the West Coast for a late model event.

The 20th annual Montana 200 kicks off in just hours at Raceway Park in Kalispell and it's bringing so many people the drivers and teams are having a difficult time finding places to stay.

The race is going to be the biggest event in the history of Mo… Click to Read More

Posted 07/16/2010 12:25 PM by Ashley Korslien

GREAT FALLS - Ready...set...vacation! That seems to be the trend in Montana this summer, as air travel is up 10% from this time last year.

"Planes are full, people are starting to travel again; they can only stay home so long," explained Susan Agostinelli, vice-president of Davidson Travel in Great Falls.

She added that many people stopped booking tickets after the economy crashed, but this summer, that's starting to change.

"It was like everybody was told how bad it w… Click to Read More

Posted 07/16/2010 10:14 AM by KPAX News Staff, CNN

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WASHINGTON DC - The U.S. Senate voted 60-39 on Thursday approve legislation to overhaul Wall Street. The bill reforms how the nation's financial institutions operate and sets in place new guards to protect consumers and the government from companies deemed too big to fail.

Republicans say they agree that Wall Street needs to be better regulated but add that the legislation before them is too broad, and would negatively impact small businesses at a time when the fragile economy doesn't… Click to Read More

Posted 07/15/2010 7:04 AM by Blake Ellis, staff reporter

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The number of Americans filing for initial unemployment insurance dropped to the lowest level in nearly two years last week, according to a government report released Thursday.

There were 429,000 initial jobless claims filed in the week ended July 10, down 29,000 from a revised 458,000 in the previous week, the Labor Department said.

The number of claims was much lower than expected. A consensus estimate of economists surveyed by Briefing.com expecte… Click to Read More