Idaho fastest growing state in over-the-year job growth; December unemployment rate unchanged at 3.9%

Idaho’s 4.4 percent over-the-year growth of seasonally adjusted nonfarm jobs in December was the nation’s fastest–the third consecutive month Idaho has held this distinction. 

The state’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 3.9 percent in December–unchanged from November due to a labor force increase of 2,600 workers. December’s labor force increase was the largest December increase since 2004 and pushed the state’s total labor force above 806,000.

Clearwater County’s unemployment rate crept up between November and December, from 8% to 8.4%. The December rate for 2015 was less than the December 2014 rate of 12.1%.

Idaho County’s December unemployment rate dropped to 5.2%, down from November’s rate of 5.7%. Last December’s rate was 8.8%.

The December unemployment rate for Lewis County jumped to 6.4%, up from November’s rate of 5.3%. Lewis County’s December 2015 was higher than the 2014 rate of 5.3%.

In Nez Perce County, there was a slight decrease in the November to December unemployment rate, from 3.6% to 3.3%. December’s rate was also lower than last year’s rate of 5.4%.

Idaho’s labor force participation rate—the percentage of people 16 years and older with jobs or looking for work—increased to 64.3 percent after November’s rate was revised down to 64.1 percent.

Idaho’s nonfarm job growth of 4.4 percent was the largest gain in Idaho since 2005, with a seasonally adjusted increase of 29,100 jobs from December 2014 to December 2015. The greatest gains were in construction, manufacturing and real estate. Mining and logging, information, and state government were the only sectors to show declines.

Over the month, Idaho nonfarm payrolls grew by a seasonally adjusted 0.4 percent between November and December due to strong showings in manufacturing and wholesale trade.

With December’s total employment at 774,543 and only 31,460 unemployed people looking for work, there were only 1.2 unemployed individuals per job listing, according to The Conference Board. 

Nationally, the unemployment rate also remained unchanged at 5.0 percent. This was the third consecutive month the rate has held flat for the nation.

Annually, unemployment insurance benefit payments were down from December 2014 by 16 percent, from $3.241 million a year ago to $2.736 million in December 2015, while the number of weeks compensated dropped 20 percent from a weekly average of 11,471 to a weekly average of 9,159.

Twenty-seven Idaho counties reported unemployment rates above the state average, with the highest of 8.5 percent in Shoshone County. The remaining 17 counties match or were below the state rate; the lowest rate of 2.6 percent was reported in Madison County.

Among the metropolitan statistical areas, Coeur d’Alene had the highest rate with 4.8 percent and Idaho Falls the lowest with 3.2 percent.

For more information on Idaho’s unemployment picture visit lmi.Idaho.gov.

August unemployment rate ticks up to 4.2%

An increase of 400 people looking for work nudged August’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate up a tenth of a point to 4.2 percent.

A seasonal decline of 500 nonfarm jobs – a 0.1 percent decline - in private higher education offset a modest August payroll gain in construction, manufacturing and service sector jobs. At a five-year average monthly change of 0.2 percent, August is typically a month of minor changes.

Year-over-year the numbers tell a different story. Nonfarm payrolls are up by 3 percent over last year due to an across-the-board gain of 19,800 jobs, underscoring 12 months of healthy economic growth, with the biggest gains in construction, trade, professional services and healthcare.

Even though August’s labor force increase was the smallest monthly increase so far this year, it was the eighth month in a streak of labor force gains, reflecting an annual increase of 21,000 people – or 2.7 percent - the largest percentage increase since March 2006.

With only one unemployed worker for every job opening, Idaho’s labor market continued to tighten in August, according to job opening estimates by The Conference Board.

Idaho’s labor force participation rate - the percentage of people 16 years and older with jobs or looking for work - remained unchanged at 64.1 percent for the third consecutive month.

Nationally, unemployment fell to 5.1 in August, from 5.3 percent in July.

Clearwater County’s rate fell slightly from July, to 7.8 percent, compared with July’s rate of 7.9 percent. In August of last year the rate was 8.9 percent.

Lewis County’s rate climbed to 4.7 percent in August, up from 4.3 in July and 4.1 last August.

Idaho County’s rate also climbed from July to August, 6.4 to 6.6, respectively, but was still down from last year’s August rate of 7.2 percent.

Nez Perce County’s August rate of 4.0 was exactly the same as August 2014’s rate. It was up a bit from this July’s rate of 3.9 percent.

The state’s unemployment benefit payouts were down from July by nearly 21 percent in August to $1.29 million, with the number of claimants receiving benefits declining by 25 percent to 4,597.

Twenty-four Idaho counties experienced higher unemployment rates than the state average during August. Madison County claimed the lowest unemployment rate in the state at 3.1 percent, while Adams, Clearwater and Shoshone counties reported the highest rates.

Almost all of Idaho’s Metropolitan Statistical Areas had unemployment rates below the state average except for the Coeur d’Alene MSA at 5.1 percent. The Idaho Falls MSA remained unchanged from July with the lowest unemployment rate of the MSAs at 3.7 percent.

Additional insight into Idaho’s unemployment picture can be found at lmi.Idaho.gov.

September jobless rate falls as labor force declines

None of Idaho’s 44 counties saw unemployment rates reach double digits during September. Franklin County was the only county where unemployment rose between August and September, from 2.4 percent to 2.6 percent.

Six counties had rates below 3 percent, the lowest in Oneida at 2.5 percent. May of 2008 was the last time six or more counties experienced rates that low.

Clearwater County had the highest unemployment rate for September at 7.6 percent, down 1.4 percentage points from August. Last September it was 11.5 percent.

Lewis County’s September rate was 3 percent, down from 4.4 percent in August, and from last September’s rate of 5.5 percent.

Idaho County’s September rate dropped to 5.5, down from August’s 6 percent, and down from 8.4 percent in September 2013.

Nez Perce County’s rate for September was 3.6 percent, down a little from August’s rate of 4.1 percent. Last September’s rate in Nez Perce County was 5.1 percent.

Idaho’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate fell to 4.5 percent in September, its lowest level since May 2008. Last year September’s unemployment rate was 6 percent.

The state’s two-tenths of a percentage point drop in unemployment from August mirrored the national rate’s drop to 5.9 percent. September marked 13 full years that Idaho’s jobless rate has been below the national rate.

Employers across most Idaho sectors scaled back hiring in September, but still generated another 3,800 jobs, just below September’s 10-year average. New hires, primarily to fill existing job openings, approached 20,000, the highest September level since 2006.

Total employment remained essentially unchanged from August at just over 741,000 while the number of workers without jobs fell below 35,000 for the first time in more than six years, essentially accounting for the decline in the labor force.

Nearly 2,100 workers left the statewide labor force – many likely returning to school - making September’s labor force decline the largest one-month drop since February 2010. The state’s labor force participation rate – the percentage of working-age adults working or actively looking for work – fell to 63.3 percent, the lowest level since August 1976.

Since the series of severe recessions between 1980 and 1986 Idaho’s labor force declined only one other time between August and September – in 2013. Total employment also rose markedly from August to September in every other year except 2008 to 2010 during the recession.

Construction, manufacturing, hotels and restaurants and bars maintained employment levels slightly higher than normal for September, but the rest of the economy slipped against the five-year average. Services sector jobs, which pay an average of $12,000 a year less than goods production jobs, edged up three-tenths of a point to 84.5 percent.

Almost 12,700 more people were working in September than a year earlier, even though total employment has remained essentially flat since May. Total employment experienced similar stability during the same period in 2013, reflecting how gradual the recovery is occurring across the state.

Unemployment insurance benefit payments continued to run below year-earlier levels in September, totaling $6 million to a weekly average of 5,400 jobless workers. That compared to $6.5 million in regular benefits paid to a weekly average of 6,500 workers in September 2013 plus another $2.5 million in federally financed benefits to a weekly average of 2,800. Federally funded benefits ended at the close of 2013.

In addition to the six counties below 3 percent, another 21 counties and all five metropolitan areas had rates less than the statewide rate of 4.5 percent.

Unemployment below double digits in Clearwater County

Clearwater County’s August unemployment dropped to 9.1 percent, the lowest it has been in 2014, so far. In July it was 9.4 percent, and last August it was 11.9 percent.

Nearby counties also saw a decrease from July. Idaho County also dropped from 6.3 percent to 6 percent, and was also down from last year’s August rate of 8.4 percent.

Lewis County dropped to 4.1 percent, from July’s rate of 4.5 percent. Last August Lewis County’s unemployment rate was 5.4 percent.

Nez Perce County dropped from 4.3 percent to 4.1 percent. The figure was also down from last year’s August rate of 5.2 percent.

Idaho’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate resumed its downward trend in August, dropping a tenth of a point to 4.7 percent as employers hired at or just below the norm for the previous five years.

August’s decline matched a tenth-of-a-point drop in unemployment nationally, marking nearly 13 years Idaho’s rate has been lower than the nation’s. Idaho’s rate was 6.2 percent in August 2013.

The lower state unemployment rate was a result of more than 600 workers leaving the labor force while total employment fell fractionally for the second straight month. Businesses hired 18,600 workers during August, almost all to fill existing job vacancies, while new hires remained below August 2013 levels.

Idaho’s labor force participation rate for August–the percentage of adults working or actively looking for work–dropped another tenth of a percentage point to 63.5 percent. It was over 64 percent a year ago.

Of the 1,500 new jobs employers added in August, mining, logging and construction all generated slightly more jobs than usual, as did financial services, business services and restaurants.

That pushed total nonfarm jobs back over 664,000, almost 15,000 higher than August 2013 and 54,000 above the low point in the downturn in August 2010, but it was still 1,100 short of the prerecession August peak in 2007. The economy had another 77,000 jobs in August 2014 that were not covered by unemployment insurance. Those included tens of thousands of self-employed.

While the August job gains were almost evenly split between goods production and services, Idaho’s economy has been steadily shifting to services. In August 2007 as the expansion was peaking, 19.2 percent of Idaho’s nonfarm jobs were in goods production, which pays an average of $12,000 a year more than services. In August 2014, 15.8 percent of the jobs were in goods production.

Unemployment insurance benefit payments continued to run below year-earlier levels in August, totaling $6.8 million to a weekly average of 7,500 jobless workers. That compared to $7.5 million in regular benefits paid to a weekly average of 7,700 workers in August 2013 plus another $2.7 million in federally financed benefits to a weekly average of 3,000. Federally funded benefits ended at the close of 2013.

None of Idaho’s 44 counties saw unemployment rates in the double digits last month. Only eight saw monthly jobless rates increase between July and August while seven others posted no change. The lowest rate was 2.5 percent in Franklin County, the third time in the last five months that Franklin has been under 3 percent. The highest unemployment rate for July was 9.1 percent in Clearwater County, down another three-tenths from July.

Twenty-four counties had rates below the statewide rate of 4.7 percent, and the Coeur d’Alene metropolitan area at 5 percent was the only one of the five metro areas with jobless rates higher than the state rate.

Clearwater County unemployment falls to 10 percent; highest in the state

Clearwater County, with a rate of 10 percent, was the only county in Idaho with a double-digit unemployment percentage in May. Ten percent is Clearwater County’s lowest unemployment rate in several years. In April of this year the rate was 10.6 percent, and in May of last year it was 10.9 percent.

The last time the state saw only one county in double digits was July 2008.

Idaho County’s May rate was 6.7 percent, down from 7.1 percent in April, and from last year’s May rate of 8.6 percent.

Nez Perce County’s rate ticked down from 4.4 to 4.3 percent from April to May. In May of 2013 it was 5.4 percent.

Lewis County, at 4.0 percent, has the lowest rate in counties near Clearwater. In April Lewis County’s rate was 4.4 percent, and last May it was 5.7 percent.  

 

Statewide information

Only four Idaho counties—Jefferson, Jerome, Owyhee and Power—saw jobless rates increase from April to May, but all 44 counties posted declines in unemployment from May 2013.

Eighteen counties had rates above 4.9 percent, down from 21 in April and 39 in May 2013. The lowest rate was 2.4 percent in Franklin County, and that was up a tenth from April’s rate.

Businesses hired at or just below their May average for the past five years, maintaining Idaho’s steady economic recovery and driving the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate below 5 percent for the first time in nearly six years.

Total employment increased another 1,000 from April to May, eclipsing 741,000 for the ninth record in as many months.

That was enough to accommodate the entry of 2,000 more workers into the labor force, holding the state’s labor force participation rate at 63.8 percent of all residents over age 15. Job generation by Idaho employers pulled another 1,000 workers off the unemployment rolls, dropping the number of jobless workers below 38,000 for the first time since July 2008.

With over 15,000 more people working this May than last, the unemployment rate at 4.9 percent was 1.5 percentage points below May 2013. Idaho’s rate was also 1.4 percentage points below the national jobless rate for May, marking more than 12½ years that the state rate has been lower.

Idaho’s economy has added 29,000 jobs since January, and total employment has risen every month since mid-2012. Financial services, real estate, information, health care, natural resources, mining, hotels and restaurants all generated jobs at just above the five-year average for May. Manufacturing, retail trade and transportation maintained the average, and only business services, private education services, construction and government fell short of their five-year performance.

The state’s economic activity continued to drive down demand on the state’s Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund, but the number of claims and amount paid has crept back up above the levels of the mid-1990s expansion.

In May, an average of 7,600 workers a week collected a total of $8.3 million in jobless benefits, down 42 percent from a year earlier with benefit payments – both state and federal extensions – 35 percent lower. Federally financed extended benefits ended in 2013.

Clearwater County unemployment falls to 10 percent; highest in the state

Clearwater County, with a rate of 10 percent, was the only county in Idaho with a double-digit unemployment percentage in May. Ten percent is Clearwater County’s lowest unemployment rate in several years. In April of this year the rate was 10.6 percent, and in May of last year it was 10.9 percent.

The last time the state saw only one county in double digits was July 2008. 

Idaho County’s May rate was 6.7 percent, down from 7.1 percent in April, and from last year’s May rate of 8.6 percent.

Nez Perce County’s rate ticked down from 4.4 to 4.3 percent from April to May. In May of 2013 it was 5.4 percent.

Lewis County, at 4.0 percent, has the lowest rate in counties near Clearwater. In April Lewis County’s rate was 4.4 percent, and last May it was 5.7 percent.

Statewide information

Only four Idaho counties—Jefferson, Jerome, Owyhee and Power—saw jobless rates increase from April to May, but all 44 counties posted declines in unemployment from May 2013.

Eighteen counties had rates above 4.9 percent, down from 21 in April and 39 in May 2013. The lowest rate was 2.4 percent in Franklin County, and that was up a tenth from April’s rate.

Businesses hired at or just below their May average for the past five years, maintaining Idaho’s steady economic recovery and driving the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate below 5 percent for the first time in nearly six years.

Total employment increased another 1,000 from April to May, eclipsing 741,000 for the ninth record in as many months.

That was enough to accommodate the entry of 2,000 more workers into the labor force, holding the state’s labor force participation rate at 63.8 percent of all residents over age 15. Job generation by Idaho employers pulled another 1,000 workers off the unemployment rolls, dropping the number of jobless workers below 38,000 for the first time since July 2008.

With over 15,000 more people working this May than last, the unemployment rate at 4.9 percent was 1.5 percentage points below May 2013. Idaho’s rate was also 1.4 percentage points below the national jobless rate for May, marking more than 12½ years that the state rate has been lower.

Idaho’s economy has added 29,000 jobs since January, and total employment has risen every month since mid-2012. Financial services, real estate, information, health care, natural resources, mining, hotels and restaurants all generated jobs at just above the five-year average for May. Manufacturing, retail trade and transportation maintained the average, and only business services, private education services, construction and government fell short of their five-year performance. 

The state’s economic activity continued to drive down demand on the state’s Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund, but the number of claims and amount paid has crept back up above the levels of the mid-1990s expansion.

In May, an average of 7,600 workers a week collected a total of $8.3 million in jobless benefits, down 42 percent from a year earlier with benefit payments – both state and federal extensions – 35 percent lower. Federally financed extended benefits ended in 2013.

Idaho employment stabilizes in September, October

Idaho employers maintained jobs at or above normal levels in September and October, and total employment rose fractionally, injecting some stability into the economy as the state approached the holiday season.

The state’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was unchanged from August to September at 6.8 percent, and then slipped to 6.7 percent in October, ending an upward trend that saw the rate increase seven-tenths of a percentage point from April through August - the second largest percentage point increase in the nation. Massachusetts rose eight-tenths of a point in the same period.

Locally, unemployment rates saw miniscule changes. Clearwater County’s rate increased by .2 percent, up to 13.3 from September’s rate of 13.1 percent. From August to September the rate stayed at 13.1. Last October Clearwater County’s unemployment rate was 12.5 percent.

Lewis County’s unemployment rate dropped incrementally to 6.2 percent, from September’s rate of 6.3 percent. Last October’s rate was also 6.2 percent. Nez Perce County also saw an incremental decrease, from 5.9 down to 5.7. In October of 2012 the rate was also 5.7.

Idaho County ticked up to 9.6 percent, from September’s rate of 9.5 percent. Last October Idaho County was at 8.7 percent, and in August of this year it was 9.1 percent.

Nationally unemployment dropped in September to 7.2 percent and then increased in October to 7.3 percent, reflecting the temporary layoff of federal employees during the government shutdown the first 16 days of October.

Idaho’s rate has been below the national rate for a full 12 years.

The number of Idaho workers without jobs rose slightly in September before falling more than 1,000 to 51,400 in October - the fourth straight month unemployment has been above 50,000.

At the same time, total employment was up 300 over the two months to exceed 721,000 but remained slightly below employment levels of October 2012 when the rate was 6.6 percent.

Although Idaho’s labor force saw a slight increase in September from August, it fell by 900 in October. That combined with the marginal increase in employment was enough to push the jobless rate down.

Idaho employers added 4,000 jobs in September, slightly above the 10-year average of 3,700 that included both a strong expansion and a severe recession. Job losses held to just 300 in October, when the number of jobs typically drops 2,200, based on the average over the last 10 years. Goods producers added several hundred jobs in October when they typically cut employment, primarily in construction, and the service sector kept job cuts to 80 percent of the 10-year average loss.

Total nonfarm jobs for October were 2.3 percent higher than in October 2012, down from a 2.6 percent year-over-year spread in September. October’s numbers likely reflected the shutdown of the federal government and economic uncertainty it created.

Businesses reported hiring nearly 20,000 people in October, the second highest total for any month since the expansion ended in December 2007 and the highest October total since 2000. Nearly all of those jobs were replacement jobs. Combined with the decline in the labor force, the numbers reflect the increasing size of Idaho’s population 55 years old and over – 25.3 percent in 2012, up from 19.6 percent in 2000.

Idaho’s labor force participation rate, which is the share of adults working or actively looking for work, dropped below 64 percent in October for the first time since 1981. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the share of Idaho households where neither spouse is in the labor force increased from 16.5 percent in 2007 to 20.1 percent in 2011 - the largest percentage point increase of any state during the recession and above the national rate of 19.7 percent for the first time.

The national labor force participation rate in October was 62.9 percent, the lowest since May 1978.

As Idaho’s employment picture stabilized and began to decrease, October’s unemployment benefit payments were down 37 percent with the number of claimants 40 percent lower than October 2012. Nearly $9 million in state and federal benefits were paid to a weekly average of 8,800 claimants in October. Just over a quarter of the payments were federally financed extended benefits, which will cease at the end of the year. An average of 2,600 people a week received federal extended benefits in October.

A year ago, over $14.2 million in state and federal benefits were paid to a weekly average of 14,500 claimants. Almost 44 percent of the payments were federally financed extended benefits.

At the depth of the recession in March 2009, an average of 50,000 workers a week received $54 million in state and federal benefits.

Thirty-five of the 44 counties posted declines in their unemployment rates from September to October, as did all five metropolitan areas.

The same six rural resource-dependent counties that have been reporting double-digit rates continued to do so in September and October. Adams County again posted the highest rate at 14.5 percent in October, down slightly from September.

Twenty counties recorded rates below 6 percent led by Oneida and Franklin at 4 percent. That was up from 15 counties with sub-6 percent rates in September.

May unemployment edges up to 6.2 percent amid influx of job seekers

Idaho’s labor force increased by 1,100 workers last month - the largest number in over a year - pushing the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate from 6.1 percent in April to 6.2 percent for May.

It was the first monthly increase in the unemployment rate since June 2011 when the rate hit 8.5 percent, just short of a post-recession 8.8 percent, before beginning a steady two-year decline.

The number of workers off the job rose 900 to 47,500, erasing April’s decline.

The tenth of a percentage point increase in the Idaho rate matched the uptick in the national rate to 7.6 percent in May. But Idaho’s rate was still more than a percentage point below the May 2012 rate of 7.3 percent, and May marked the 140th straight month Idaho’s rate has been below the national average.

Clearwater County’s May rate, while still in the double digits at 11.3 percent, was down from 12.6 percent in April, and down from 14.6 percent in May of 2012.

Nez Perce’s County’s rate of 5.6 percent remained the same from April to May. Last May it was 5.9 percent.

Lewis County’s unemployment rate ticked up to 5.9 percent, from April’s rate of 4.4 percent, though it too was lower than last May’s rate, which was 6.2 percent.

May’s labor force expansion ended a four-month decline of 4,000 to October 2011 levels even though Idaho’s economy was beginning to add jobs at a decent rate. The labor force decline raised analyst’s questions about the state’s ability to staff a sustained job expansion, but an influx of new workers – the largest one-month gain since November 2011 – may indicate renewed optimism about Idaho’s economic recovery and its ability to generate jobs.

A modest pickup in hiring by employers increased employment by 300 from April to more than 724,300 after falling for the three straight months. Employers reported hiring over 18,200 workers for both existing and new jobs, the third strongest May on record and just 500 hires short of the May peak in 2007.

All major sectors of the economy except private education services reported increasing payrolls from April to May, and nearly all were at rates higher than average over the past 10 years. Education services dropped 300 jobs from April, reflecting the winding down of the traditional school year.

Overall private sector jobs were running nearly three percent ahead of May 2012 while government, where the impact of recent federal budget cuts was beginning to be felt, was just two-tenths of a percentage point ahead of May 2012. Total jobs were 2.3 percent higher than a year earlier but still 3 percent below the pre-recession peak and unlikely to make up that ground before 2015.

Total employment across Idaho was 7,300 higher than in May 2012 while the number of unemployed was 8,900 lower than a year earlier. The most recent report from The Conference Board found two idled workers for every job posting in Idaho, well below the nearly five-to-one ratio posted during the depths of the recession.

Idaho’s economic improvement has brought a dramatic decline in unemployment insurance benefits of more than 50 percent over the year. An average of nearly 13,900 idled workers received $13.3 million in jobless benefits in May – $3.7 million of that in federal extended benefits – compared to nearly 29,000 who received $28.6 million in benefits in May 2012. Over $13 million of that was in federal extended benefits, which end in December. About 4,100 claimants were receiving federally financed benefits in May.

At the depth of the recession in March 2009, 61,000 workers received $66 million in state and federal benefits.

Eleven of Idaho’s 44 counties posted lower rates in May than in April, led by a five point decline in Power County, which had a temporary food processing layoff in April. Rates in three counties were unchanged.

Compared to May 2012, lower rates were posted in all but six rural counties – Camas, Lemhi, Oneida, Bear Lake, Owyhee and Custer.

Just three resource-dependent counties reported double-digit rates – Adams at 12.4 percent, Clearwater at 11.3 percent and Shoshone at 10.6. Six counties had double-digit rates in April.

Twenty counties had rates under 6 percent, led by Franklin County at 3.4 percent. Twenty-two counties had rates under 6 percent in April.