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.

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.

Restrictions on job search requirements to be enforced

The Idaho Department of Labor is reinforcing its 12-week limit on the period during which laid-off workers will be considered likely to be called back to their jobs. This so-called job-attached status, usually the result of seasonal shutdowns in various industries, relieves workers from looking for new jobs to remain eligible for unemployment benefits.

“We will no longer have exceptions to this rule,” Benefits Bureau Chief Josh McKenna said. “This is part of our continued effort to focus on claimants as job seekers.”

 

The decision follows a department analysis that found an excessive number of claimants failing to make the required two job contacts a week to continue receiving unemployment benefits. Since January, the department has denied weekly benefits to 231 claimants for failing to conduct the required work search. During the first three months of 2011, denials for failure to conduct work search totaled 158.

With Idaho’s job market showing continued signs of recovery-the number of non-farm jobs in January and February was two percent higher than a year earlier-opportunities for employment are expanding, McKenna said.

Reinforcing the 12-week limit on job-attached status eliminates the difficulty-and often inequity-of assessing seasonal conditions that vary significantly from one region of the state to another, and the intensified emphasis on returning claimants to work protects the state’s Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund, which went broke in 2009 because of the increased demand for benefits during the recession.

“We aren’t saying that these folks can’t go back to their prior employer, but rather they need to look for and find work during the time they are off,” McKenna said. “It may be in an occupation opposite their normal industry-for example, a landscaper goes to work at the local ski resort. There are available jobs out there right now.”

Idaho’s 12-week limit on job-attached status is greater than four of the border states-Utah at 10 weeks, Washington at eight, Nevada at six and Oregon at four.

“This is a nationwide trend,” McKenna said. “These are our expectations and they need to look for work to be eligible for benefits.

To gain job-attached status, unemployment benefit claimants must have a return-to-work date within 12 weeks of their layoff or hours reduction. If their return-to-work date is beyond 12 weeks, they must look for new full-time work to remain eligible for benefits.

Unemployment up in North Central Idaho

Unemployment rates ticked up between April and May throughout north central Idaho, as they did in the state and nation. Every county in the region saw its unemployment rate increase in April and May.

Despite the increases, the unemployment rates for all the counties, except Latah, remained below their May 2011 rates. About half of the increase was the result of the weather, which remained cooler and rainier than normal, affecting logging, construction, and trucking. The other half was the result of service-providing companies affected by national economic conditions.

Clearwater County’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate jumped from 13.4 percent in April to 15.0 percent - the highest rate of Idaho’s 44 counties in May. The jump was related to the cold, rainy weather in May.

Logging activity remained curtailed in some areas by cool, wet weather, while normally spring break-up would be over by May. Despite the jump, the county’s rate remained below its rate of 16.3 percent in May 2011, when cold, rainy weather also was keeping a lot of loggers, truckers, and construction crews from working.

Nightforce Optics and Tri Pro Cedar Products have been the brightest spots in the county’s economy, adding more than 60 jobs between May 2011 and May 2012.

Idaho County’s unemployment rate increased from 9.9 percent in April to 10.5 percent in May largely because of weather conditions. That rate was significantly lower than the 11.6 percent in May 2011. Manufacturing, wholesale, health care, and retail all added jobs in the last year, while government and construction continued to lose jobs.

Latah County’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate rose from 6.6 percent in April to 7.4 percent in May. Latah County was the only county in north central Idaho, whose unemployment rate this May was higher than the year before. Its unemployment rate in May 2011 was 7.2 percent.

Logging and agricultural-related activity were below their normal May levels, contributing to the unemployment rate rise. Also contributing were the difficulties that college students were encountering in finding summer jobs or new graduates were encountering in starting their careers.

So, much of the increased unemployment in Latah County is the result of job weakness elsewhere that didn’t allow college students to go somewhere else for summer jobs or recent graduates to move elsewhere to start their careers.

In Latah County, sectors adding jobs, created about 260 more new jobs than sectors losing jobs destroyed between May 2011 and May 2012. Total nonfarm payroll jobs are estimated to have grown about two percent in Latah County.

Lewis County’s unemployment rate rose from 5.8 percent in April to 6.0 percent in May, as weather conditions dam-pened construction, logging, and agricultural activity. The county’s rate was slightly higher a year ago—7.1 percent in May 2011.

Nez Perce County’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate rose from 6.7 percent in April to 6.9 percent in May. Most of its increased unemployment was the result of job losses at service-providing companies that are tied to national markets. Its manufacturing sector—including ATK, Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories, and Howells–continued to add jobs between April and May.

Employment in most other sectors is generally remaining the same with a fairly even mix of businesses adding jobs and losing jobs. Of the 82 Nez Perce County employers that answered a monthly employment survey, 16 added jobs between April and May – a total of 95 jobs, while 57 did not change their employment levels and nine lost jobs – a total of 118 jobs.

North Central Idaho sees improvements in labor market

Labor force statistics indicate the north central Idaho economy has been growing in recent months.

North central Idaho's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate moved down another notch from 8.2 percent in November to 8.1 percent in December. A strengthening economy meant the region's unemployment rate in December was significantly below the 9.4 percent in the same month the year before.

All of the counties in north central Idaho, except Nez Perce County, saw their unemployment rates drop between November and December. Even Clearwater County’s when from 13.6 percent in November to 13.3 percent in December. In December of last year it was 15 percent.

Nez Perce County’s unemployment rate went up from 6.9 percent to 7.2 percent, as the full impact of the Clearwater Paper layoff began to be felt. Despite the increase, its rate was below the 7.8 percent of the previous December.

Despite its neighbor’s unemployment increase, Asotin County’s rate fell to 7.8 percent in December after jumping to 9.7 percent in November. Its rate was down a full percentage point from 8.8 percent in December 2010.

Industries showing growing strength in recent months include manufacturing, insurance, logging, retail, restaurants, and health care.

In December 2010, about 4,400 north central Idaho residents were unemployed. Twelve months later, about 3,900 were. That was an 11 percent drop in unemployment. In the same period, the number of unemployed Idahoans fell nearly 13 percent and the number of unemployed Americans fell 9 percent.