Idaho’s Unemployment Rate Drops To 7.7 Percent

Emilie Ritter Saunders / StateImpact Idaho

Job seekers mingle at a career fair in Meridian, Idaho.

Idaho’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate dropped two-tenths of a percentage point in April, falling to 7.7 percent.

The Idaho Department of Labor reports it is the ninth straight month of decline.  April’s jobless rate marks the lowest the state has seen since July 2009.

“While the labor force remained essentially unchanged at 779,000 in April, the number of Idahoans with jobs was up 1,700 from March. More than 17,000 workers have found jobs since the rate began falling last summer, pushing total employment to almost 719,000. That is the highest since September 2008 when the recession began to accelerate.” – Idaho Dept. of Labor

The labor department reports April hiring was normal in all sectors except for government and professional services.  The department says retail, construction and trucking hiring were up more than expected, indicating an increase in economic activity.  Still, construction and manufacturing payrolls remain well below their mid-2000s peak.

“New hires approached 15,000 in April with nearly half filling new jobs. It was the first time April new hires have exceeded 14,000 since 2007 and the third straight month that hires have exceeded the five-year average. The Conference Board, a business think tank, reported just over three jobless workers for every posted job in its April report, nearly half the level recorded during the worst of the economic downturn.” – Idaho Dept. of Labor

Just over 60,000 Idahoans are still without work.  That’s an improvement over April of last year, when about 67,000 Idahoans were jobless.

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