State labor rate stays strong

State labor rate stays strong
by IDAHO BUSINESS REVIEW
09/11/2006

Seasonally adjusted unemployment in Idaho dropped to 3.3 percent in August, from 3.6 percent in July and 3.7 percent in August 2005.
More than 400 employers began operations in July, contributing to August employment growth, according to an Idaho Commerce & Labor Department press release.

The number of people working in Idaho last month totaled 735,100, about 21,000 more than a year earlier. New hires by Idaho’s more than 48,000 businesses hit 21,000 for just the fourth month since the 2001 economic slowdown. The 6,100-worker gain from July was the state’s fourth highest month-to-month increase.

Employers continued to seek and hire skilled workers, and the low unemployment rate appeared to be requiring operators in the typically lower-paying retail and food service sectors to dip deeper into the labor pool to meet manpower needs, state officials said. Education and wildland fire-related payrolls expanded.

Nearly two-thirds of the job growth occurred in the Boise–Nampa metro area.

At the same time, an Idaho county recorded a double-digit unemployment rate for the first time since August 2005. Power County’s unemployment rate, at 10.3 percent, was the highest in the state, the result of a layoff at a food processing facility.

Clearwater County at 9.6 percent and Benewah County at 9.2 percent followed. Both rely heavily on natural resource industries, state labor officials said.

Idaho has about 23,000 agriculture workers year-round, and 39,000 during peak season in July and August, Commerce & Labor spokesman Bob Fick said. Totals do not include 10,000 operators such as farm owners and unpaid family members.