The Pug Father / Flickr Creative Commons
Here’s a look at the five posts generating the most comments, clicks and shares at StateImpact Idaho this week. Take a look, share with your friends, and let us know what you think!
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 Continue Reading
As we reported yesterday, Idaho's population has grown more than 20 percent in the last decade. But just as new people move to the state, some Idahoans are moving out. So, where do most Idahoans go? Not surprisingly, many Idahoans move to nearby states. But there's also a significant number of former Gem Staters in Virginia, Florida and Texas. Continue reading
Enterprise Community Partners
Click on the map above to see a study of how states have used their portions of the mortgage settlement.
Idaho received more than $13 million in a national, multi-billion dollar mortgage settlement reached early this year. But the state has committed only a fraction of that amount to housing programs and alleviating the effects of the housing crisis.
The historic mortgage settlement was the result of negotiations between states’ attorneys general and five of the nation’s largest banks. It was the banks’ atonement for the mortgage and foreclosure practices that contributed to the housing crisis. Continue Reading
Workers laid off from the Clearwater Paper sawmill in Lewiston could be eligible for re-employment services through the Idaho Department of Labor.
About 250 sawmill workers were laid off back in November 2011 after Clearwater Paper sold its mill operation. At least 100 of those laid off got their jobs back when it reopened, but about 125 people didn’t.
The U.S. Department of Labor announced today nearly $950,000 is available to help dislocated workers retrain and find new jobs in Idaho.
In a written press release, Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis said, “Closure of the Clearwater Paper sawmill resulted in layoffs that impact individuals, families and the Lewiston community as a whole. The federal government grant announced today will help dislocated workers acquire the skills they need to find new jobs in the local economy’s high growth industries.”
More than $6.6 million in National Emergency Grants have been awarded to Idaho companies in the last three years.
You're more likely to meet a Floridian than a North Dakotan in Idaho. In the last decade, Idaho's population has grown by more than 20 percent. So, where are they coming from? We look at some interesting IRS data. Continue reading
Molly Messick / StateImpact
Mike Ferguson launched the Idaho Center for Fiscal Policy in 2011.
Idaho Center for Fiscal Policy director Mike Ferguson picked up national press this week. He’s featured in a Q&A with The Nation.
The Nation writer Sasha Abramsky asked Ferguson about his recent report on the decline in state funding for education, the shrinking role of government, and the shift in Idaho politics Ferguson noted during his tenure as chief state economist.
Here’s an excerpt: Continue Reading
Emilie Ritter Saunders / StateImpact
Less than a quarter of Idahoans 25 or older have a bachelor's degree or higher.
There are fewer people with college degrees in Idaho than in many of its neighboring states and the nation.
U.S. Census Bureau data from 2010 shows 24.4 percent of Idahoans aged 25 or older have a bachelor’s degree or higher. The national average in 2010 was 28.2 percent.
A report from Georgetown University’s Center on Education and the Workforce predicts 61 percent of the jobs available in Idaho by 2018 will require an education beyond high school. Continue Reading
Justin Sullivan / Getty Images
Semiconductors (computer chips) and industrial equipment make up more than half of all Idaho exports.
The Idaho Department of Commerce reports Idaho exports are down 8.9 percent from the first quarter of this year compared to the first quarter of 2011.
Here’s what the department said in part of its press release today:
Following a record year for Idaho exports in 2011 with total sales at nearly $6 billion, first-quarter figures showed a fairly stable start to 2012, with exports in the first three months of nearly $1.4 billion. Continue Reading
Emilie Ritter Saunders / StateImpact
Some stories take a long time to report. StateImpact‘s recent piece on the refugee travel loan program is one example. I first spoke to Legal Aid attorney Zoe Ann Olson in February, not long after I reported a story about how Idaho’s economic downturn has affected refugee resettlement. Marcia Munden, the Catholic Charities social worker who was instrumental in that piece, recommended I give Olson a call.
A long phone conversation ensued. One of Olson’s main observations about the program was this: many refugees seemed not to know they could be eligible for loan deferrals or waivers based on criteria like economic hardship or disability. As a result, she said, the travel loans compounded refugees’ economic distress, and put them at risk for bad credit. The loans were, in effect, creating an additional barrier to integration in the U.S. Continue Reading
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