Emilie Ritter Saunders comes to Boise from Montana Public Radio where she was the Capitol Bureau Chief from 2008-2011 covering everything from state government and politics to the economy and the environment. Emilie was a Senior Fellow with NPR's Economic Training Project from 2009 until 2010. She graduated from the University of Montana School of Journalism in 2007.
One in 13 hourly workers in Idaho earned minimum wage last year. That’s $7.25 an hour.The share of Idaho workers making minimum wage has increased from 5 percent in 2011 to 7.7 percent of the hourly workforce in 2012.
That bump means Idaho has a larger share of minimum wage workers than any other state in the country.
U.S. Census Bureau
Click on the map to explore the data.
The U.S. Census Bureau has taken a closer look at business on the state and county levels. The agency released this map today that shows where Idaho’s businesses are concentrated, their estimated number of employees and the estimated annual payroll.
The 2011 data from the American Community Survey shows there were 42,399 businesses in Idaho, employing 482,772 with an annual payroll of $16.8 billion. The statistics don’t include self-employed businesses, employees of private households, or government.
The data also show the vast majority of Idaho’s businesses, 40,944, employ fewer than 50 people. Continue Reading
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There are more than 220 payday lenders in Idaho.
More than a dozen states have put caps on payday loan interest rates, limiting and in some cases shutting down the industry in many states.
The pitch to cap rates in Idaho hasn’t been successful. Still, big banks have started offering short-term, high-interest loans to make up for the loss in the payday lending industry.
The Wall Street Journal this week summed up how those loans work, and which banks offer them. Continue Reading
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Capital Press reports a record number of Idaho agriculture groups have applied for specialty crop grants.
The grants are financed through the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Since 2009, the Idaho Department of Agriculture reports more than $3.5 million in grants have gone to Idaho producers. Capital Press reports $1 million will be up for grabs in 2013.
“A total of 24 applications seeking $1.8 million were submitted in 2012 and 12 of the applications totaling $844,000 were approved. In 2011, 16 applications seeking $1.6 million were submitted and eight totaling $926,000 were approved.” – Capital Press Continue Reading
Idaho is on the fast-track to create its own online health insurance exchange. This week, the newly-minted exchange board met for the first time and voted unanimously to hire a Portland consultant to head the project.
The Spokesman-Review reports the exchange board has voted to hire Amy Dowd as executive director. She has accepted the new job with a salary in the “$175,000 range.” Continue Reading
North Idaho residents needing assistance will have to go to the Spokane office, 920 W. Riverside Ave.
Karen Connelly, IRS spokesperson, couldn’t provide more information on the closure by Press deadline Monday, and employees at the office said they weren’t at liberty to answer questions. But a sign on the office door announces the closure, citing the federal budget cuts that were implemented March 1, 2013, known as sequestration.
Read more at: www.cdapress.com
Blue Mountain Local Studies / Flickr Creative Commons
Printing press circa 1910.
The Wall Street Journal and CareerCast.com came out with the top jobs of 2013 list this week. They ranked 200 jobs based on things like income, stress and hiring outlook.
The top job, according to their list, is an actuary.
So, what’s an actuary? We didn’t know either.
“Actuaries analyze the financial costs of risk and uncertainty. They use mathematics, statistics, and financial theory to assess the risk that an event will occur and to help businesses and clients develop policies that minimize the cost of that risk.” – BLS.gov Continue Reading
“I got a call from a guy who did not want to identify what firm he worked for,” said Stephen Weeg, the board’s interim chairman. “He just wanted to give us all a notice that within three months’ time we would all be sued for being on this board – I think he called everybody on this board, just to let us know that we were already in trouble.”
Read more at: www.spokesman.com
The 2010 federal health care law created a tax credit for some people whose incomes are within 400 percent of the federal poverty line. People who can’t buy affordably priced health insurance through work would be among those qualifying for the credits.
Read more at: www.idahostatesman.com
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