Montana agriculture in 1993 had its best year since the early 1970s. A backlog of housing starts leftover from the 1980s as well as migration into the state resulted in a construction boom, especially in western Montana. The labor income of Montana's federal employees rose sharply as well between 1991 and 1994. Non-resident travel and tourism grew rapidly in the late 1980s and has continued to grow steadily. Demographics Total state population increased during the inter-measurement periods of 1980 to1990 and 1990 to 1997.
Population growth occurs in two ways, births and immigration.
Migration trends are perhaps a more telling indicator of regional demographics. During the 1990s net migration has been a positive 51,578. These data are reflective of the poor regional economy of the 1980s and the recovery and boom of the early 1990s. Net migration during the 1990s would have been even greater except that there was a net emigration in the second half of the decade. Emigration exceeded immigration for nearly all of the counties east of the Continental Divide during the 1980s.