Expert: Montana economy in flux – training, education improve wages. "The State with the Best Education Wins!"

The chief economist at the University of Montana’s Bureau of Business and Economic Research sums up the state’s economic outlook for 2008 this way: fearful of a recession brought on by the subprime mortgage debacle and other shocks to the economy.

It isn’t enough to boast that Montana has a low unemployment rate – just 3.6 percent as of October 2007, Sheila Stearns, the state’s commissioner of higher education, said Friday. To support a strong economic future, Montana needs better wages.

“We have some problems,” she said.

By LORI GRANNIS of the Missoulian

Full Story: http://missoulian.com/articles/2008/01/26/news/local/news03.txt