January’s Jobless Rate Drops Slightly

Molly Messick / StateImpact Idaho

The Idaho Department of Labor estimates January’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 8.1 percent.  That’s down from December’s estimate of 8.3 percent.

Despite the downward trend, there are still an estimated 63,000 people in Idaho without jobs.  Those figures don’t take into account the people who have given up looking for work.  Bob Uhlenkott at the Idaho Department of Labor says when discouraged workers are included in the monthly jobless rate, it typically doubles.

As we reported Thursday, Idaho’s average unemployment rate for 2011 wasn’t significantly different from 2010’s average.  Uhlenkott says while things aren’t getting worse in Idaho, they aren’t improving quickly.  “Recovery is starting to gain a little bit of traction – but we’re not popping the cork yet,” Uhlenkott says.