Emilie Ritter Saunders was StateImpact Idaho's multimedia reporter until the project merged with the Boise State Public Radio site in July 2013. She previously worked as the Capitol Bureau Chief for Montana Public Radio and 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.
We know that an aging population has had an effect on the kinds of jobs available, that a shrinking construction sector has played a part, and that a decrease in education funding could also be partly to blame.
To talk more about the trend, we recently sat down with economist and director of the Idaho Center for Fiscal Policy Mike Ferguson. We also planned to speak with Idaho Department of Commerce director Jeff Sayer, but Sayer canceled our conversation indefinitely.
Q: You’ve got a bit of a chicken and egg situation here. Data from Census and IRS looking at migration patterns show the younger educated workforce is leaving the state, we’ve got older retirees moving in. Which needs to come first the educated workforce in the state, or the businesses that are going to pay high wages?Continue Reading →
The data doesn’t tell us who these workers are, or where they live. We don’t know, for example, if the majority of those 31,000 minimum wage earners are teenagers working a part-time job, or middle-aged parents trying to support a family.
But back in February, President Barack Obama said in his State of the Union Address that he wants to raise the minimum wage to $9 an hour. Since then, acting Labor Department Secretary Seth Harris has been campaigning to boost support for the idea.
Harris says raising the minimum wage will directly help workers earning it, but will also benefit the entire economy.
“Those workers will have more money in their pockets,” says Harris. Continue Reading →
Idaho’s average hourly wage declined in 2012 according to data released today by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Idaho’s average hourly wage for all occupations dropped from $18.52 in 2011 to $18.48 in 2012. That slide now ranks Idaho’s average hourly wage 45th among states.
Despite that slip in average hourly wages, Idaho’s median wage went up. Half of Idaho’s hourly workers earned $14.58 last year, that’s up from $14.51 in 2011.
As we’ve been reporting all week, Idaho’s wages are among the lowest in the country, and today’s updated figures from the BLS doesn’t change that.
For the last two years, Gov. Otter has pushed for lower business taxes, a state-based health insurance exchange, and hiring tax credits.
Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter is using Idaho’s low wages as a selling point. In a letter sent to out-of-state gun manufacturers last month to encourage them to relocate to Idaho, Otter touts the comparatively low cost of labor here.
This week we’re reporting on wages in Idaho. The governor portrays as an asset the wage trends we’ve been reporting on. Bureau of Labor Statistics data show Idaho has the largest percentage of minimum wage workers in the country; Idaho’s average per capita personal income is second from the bottom. Mississippi is the only state where personal income is less.
In the letter sent to 79 gun and ammunition makers in 28 states, the governor highlights Idaho’s low wages as a way for those companies to save money.
The latest driver’s license data suggests more 20-somethings are leaving Idaho than ever before. The net loss of Idahoans aged 21-30 last year was 149. The data show 11,530 young people moved to Idaho from other states in 2012, while 11,679 left.
Source: Idaho Department of Labor | Idaho Department of Transportation
The Idaho Department of Labor is keeping an eye on this unsettling trend; young people are leaving the state in search of higher-paying jobs while retirees from out-of-state are moving in faster than ever. Continue Reading →
Jordyn Skinner is a freshman at Boise State University. She also works part-time at Franco's Pizzeria.
There’s a brand new pizza joint in southeast Boise. It’s nestled in a mini-strip mall with a gas station, dry cleaner and hair salon.
On a recent Friday evening, Franco’s Pizzeria was just starting to pick up. It’s a tiny place. The cash register is only a few steps away from the industrial pizza ovens. There are a handful of tables and stools inside for someone who just wants a quick slice.
Two employees behind the register take turns answering the phone and taking orders. Two other workers are busy hand-tossing pizza dough, spreading sauce on the crust and layering the New York-style pies with toppings.
Save for the owners, everyone at Franco’s earns $7.50 an hour, that’s a quarter above minimum wage. Continue Reading →
The Division of Financial Management reports tax collections totaled $483.9 million during the largest tax-collecting month of the year. DFM forecast April collections wouldn’t exceed $427.4 million. Continue Reading →
Yesterday, Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter declared May “2nd Amendment Protection Month.” And as new gun control laws go into effect in a handful of states, the Idaho Commerce Department says it’s “well-poised” to lure gun and ammunition companies to Idaho.
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.
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