Construction: The Heart of Idaho's Recession

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Construction workers surveying a job site

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Idaho’s construction industry lost 10,000 jobs from 2008 to 2009 according to the state Department of Labor. Labor spokesman Bob Fick said job losses in construction and manufacturing was the heart of Idaho’s recession.

“Once you suck those jobs out — and they’re really good paying jobs, said Fick, then you see the ripple effects in retail and services and almost all other sectors because people don’t have any money to spend.”

State and private economists agree recovery in the construction industry will be slow. The Division of Financial Management predicts the industry will lose another 1,300 jobs by the end of 2011. It’s likely the state won’t be able to measure growth here until 2014.

Derek Santos is the Chief Economist at the Division of Financial Management. “Despite its anticipated growth, construction employment comes nowhere close to regaining its previous peak,” Santos wrote in the July 2011 forecast. “Instead, there are about as many jobs (forecast) in 2014 as there were in 2009.”

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May 23, 2012

For One Laid-Off Construction Worker, School Was The Only Option

Jesse Guyett fits unwillingly into a crumby statistic. He is one of about 20,000 Idahoans laid off from a construction job since the economy tanked after 2007. Idaho Department of Labor data show about 45 percent of the state’s construction jobs have been cut since 2007. Guyett is a journeyman electrician. He went to school […]

April 20, 2012

Idaho’s Jobless Rate Dips Below 8 Percent

Idaho’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for March dropped below 8 percent to 7.9 percent. The Idaho Department of Labor reports that’s the first time the state’s jobless rate has dipped below 8 percent in more than two years. Still, almost 62,000 Idahoans are out of work. The data show Idaho’s jobless rate has been on the […]

April 12, 2012

Little By Little, Idaho’s Hard-Hit Housing Market Begins To Revive

Idaho was hit hard in the housing crash. For the better part of three years, the state’s foreclosure rate was one of the highest in the nation. The Boise area saw the worst of it. That means it’s been a while since this scene played out with any kind of regularity. Little By Little, Idaho’s […]

April 2, 2012

Construction Numbers Complicate Recovery Picture

Total U.S. construction spending fell in February, according to Census Bureau figures released today. The drop was the largest in seven months. The Calculated Risk blog has posted a couple of handy graphs showing construction spending over time and by category. Idaho has seen a substantial decline in construction employment since the start of the […]

March 28, 2012

Idaho Posts Above Average Personal Income Growth

Idaho posted above average personal income growth from 2010 to 2011, thanks largely to increases in farm earnings. Other top industries, in terms of earnings growth, included health care and professional services. The construction industry had the most notable earnings losses. Idaho’s personal income grew 5.4 percent from 2010 to 2011. That’s higher than the […]

February 22, 2012

A Temp Agency Is The Top Employer In Rural Owyhee County

One of Idaho’s largest private employers is a company with a name that doesn’t really explain what it does. It’s called Marsing Agricultural Labor Sponsoring Committee Inc. It’s basically a temp agency for farm workers. The company employs between 500 and 600 people in Owyhee County according to data from the state. And that’s a […]

November 1, 2011

Chance of Slipping Back into a Recession Grows

Idaho’s Division of Financial Management (DFM) released its latest economic forecast today and the news is gloomy. The probably of slipping back into a national recession is higher than it was just three months ago. “In the previous (July) forecast, the probability of the economy slipping into a recession was 25 percent,” says Derek Santos, […]

October 21, 2011

Mapping Idaho’s Unemployment Rate, County-by-County

Idaho’s unemployment rate ticked down two-tenths of a percent in September, slipping below the national rate for the first time in nearly a year. The state’s seasonally adjusted rate is at 9.0 percent, nationally it’s at 9.1 percent. Idaho Department of Labor spokesman Bob Fick says many sectors are performing better, or about the same, […]

October 20, 2011

Idaho’s Private Sector in 2010

Here’s a closer look at Idaho’s 2010 private sector gross state product, in millions of dollars. [spreadsheet key=”0AiLU6Cs5LWZIdHJNaVpiZWVNV1JzaHhvZWVRQkJFb3c” source=”U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis” sheet=0 filter=0 paginate=0 sortable=1] According to the Idaho Department of Labor, the value of all goods and services produced rebounded in 2010 by 3.3 percent. Losses were still recorded in the construction, […]

September 14, 2011

What Idaho’s Economy Looks Like…in Pie Form

The Idaho Department of Labor says the state’s economy has been growing more slowly than the nation’s. The Idaho Statesman reports the state’s total gross state product rose 3.3 percent last year to $55.4 billion. But, when adjusted for inflation, it rose 2 percent to $50.7 billion. Nationwide, the inflation-adjusted gross product for 2010 is […]