Idaho Recovers, Sort Of

Emilie Ritter Saunders / StateImpact Idaho

In Meridian, a worker trains to become a mechanical technician.

By one measure, Idaho’s economy has regained the ground it lost in the recession.

The state’s real gross state product (translation: the total value of all goods and services produced in Idaho, corrected for inflation) was greater in 2011 than it was in 2007.  That’s according to the Idaho Department of Labor.

It’s the first time the state’s real GSP has surpassed pre-recession levels.  Real GSP came in at just under $51.5 billion last year, $36 million higher than the 2007 total.

What’s important to note is that Idaho is producing more with less.  The state generated a greater value of goods and services in 2011 than in 2007, but it did so with fewer workers.  As StateImpact‘s unemployment app shows, about 22,000 fewer people were employed in Idaho at the end of 2011 compared to the end of 2007.

That’s reflected in the state’s unemployment rate, which stands at 7.7 percent compared to the 2007 low of 2.7 percent.