Idaho’s Jobless Rate Ticks Down, Employment Gains In Construction And Professional Services

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Idaho reported job gains in construction, professional and business services, hotels and restaurant.

For the first time in almost three years, fewer than 60,000 Idahoans are out of work.  That’s according to the latest jobless report by the Idaho Department of Labor.  That figure doesn’t include Idahoans who’ve stopped looking for work or who are underemployed.

Idaho’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for the month of June dropped one tenth of a percentage point from 7.8 to 7.7.

Still, the department says new entrants into Idaho’s labor market didn’t meet expectations.

“Total employment rose for the 12th month in a row but by the fewest workers so far this year. Only 500 more people were at work in June than in May, well below the average increase of 2,200 a month prior to June. But total employment at nearly 722,000 was still the highest since July 2008. The number of unemployed fell 700 to 59,900. The last time fewer workers were without jobs was August 2009.” – Dept. of Labor

The Labor Department reports employers hired 21,000 people in June — that’s the highest one-month increase since 2007.  Many of those new jobs were reported in the construction, professional and business services, hotels and restaurant industries.  Job declines were reported in state and local government and private education.

“Some of the significant increase in new hires could have resulted from a spring media campaign urging employers to comply with the law requiring all new hires to be reported within 20 days of hiring.” – Dept. of Labor

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports Idaho is one of 11 states, plus the District of Columbia, where the monthly jobless figure went down.  Twelve states remained unchanged, 27 states’ jobless rates went up.

The national unemployment rate in June held steady at 8.2 percent.