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Waiting For Recovery: Idaho's Economy In 4 Charts

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Background

This page is no longer being updated. For ongoing coverage of this topic, go to Boise State Public Radio’s website.

Much like the nation, Idaho’s post-recession recovery has been slow and bumpy.

In areas like the housing market, Idaho has shown repeated positive signs since StateImpact started keeping track in 2011.  Idaho’s hardest-hit sector, construction, is also making a steady, albeit slow, comeback.

As this chart shows, Idaho’s unemployment rate is also continuing its trend downward.

However, Idaho still isn’t seeing a positive change in three areas.

Median income hasn’t rebounded…

Source: U.S. Census Bureau

Idaho’s poverty rate continues to increase…

Source: U.S. Census Bureau

And more people are using food stamps than ever before…

Source: U.S. Census Bureau

Latest Posts

December 20, 2012

Rising Home Prices Bolster Boise’s Economic Turnaround, Report Says

Boise continues to rank near the top in a survey of 100 U.S. cities’ economic recoveries.  That’s thanks mainly to its home price improvement since the depths of the downturn. The report, published by The Brookings Institution, evaluates cities’ economies as of the third quarter, from July to September of this year.  It ranks Boise number […]

November 21, 2012
October 24, 2012

Southwest Airlines Drops Direct Boise To Portland Flight

Southwest Airlines will drop its direct Boise-to-Portland flights this spring.  The Idaho Press-Tribune reports the airline says fuel costs were the deciding factor. Here’s more from the Idaho Press-Tribune: “The current fuel environment doesn’t allow us to continue operating that market with nonstop service,” Southwest spokesman Brad Hawkins said over email.

October 19, 2012

Idaho’s Jobless Rate Falls To 7.1 Percent As Labor Force Shrinks

Once again, Idaho’s unemployment rate brings mixed news. Upfront, it’s good: unemployment dropped by three tenths of a percent in September, falling to 7.1 percent.  The rate “plunged,” as Department of Labor spokesman Bob Fick puts it, and reached its lowest level since May of 2009. Also in the positive column: there were 1,200 more […]

October 18, 2012

Thousands Of Idahoans Lose Unemployment Benefits As Federal Program Expires

About 150 Idahoans are exhausting their unemployment insurance benefits each week without finding work, according to the state Department of Labor.  In addition, the department this week notified more than 6,000 Idahoans that their unemployment insurance benefits will expire at the end of the year. The benefits coming to an end are provided under the […]

October 11, 2012

Idaho Foreclosures Ticked Up In Summer Months

Idaho saw more foreclosure filings from July through September than it did in the previous quarter of the year, according to RealtyTrac data released today. The number of filings inched up by 5.6 percent from the second to third quarters. Idaho has the 14th highest foreclosure rate in the nation, with one of every 294 […]

October 4, 2012

Truckers, Mechanics To Lose Jobs At Idaho Molybdenum Mine

Thompson Creek Metals Company answered questions from investors today after announcing yesterday that it will suspend a planned phase of activity at its molybdenum mine in Custer County, resulting in job cuts. The company expects to lay off 104 of its approximately 400 employees, CEO Kevin Loughrey said today.  “They’re going to be primarily truck […]

September 17, 2012

Buying Trumps Renting In Boise’s Recovering Housing Market

It is, in general, cheaper to own than rent.  That’s the broad finding of a recent report from real estate website Trulia. How much cheaper? Assuming a 3.5 percent mortgage rate and 20 percent down payment, among other things, “buying is now 45 percent cheaper than renting in the 100 largest U.S. metros, on average […]

July 12, 2012

Building In Boise’s Famed “Hole” Could Assist City’s Economic Recovery

Zions Bank broke ground today on the 18-story building that will take the place of the massive hole in the ground that has long been a feature of downtown Boise. The corner at 8th and Main has been vacant since the late 1980s, when a fire destroyed the Eastman building.  That made the groundbreaking a […]

July 5, 2012

Mountain West Recovery Outpaces Nation’s, Brookings Says

Boise home values have improved by nearly five percent from their post-recession low.  That’s enough of an increase that a recent Brookings Institution report ranks the city first for its house price recovery.  StateImpact reported that finding early this week. The report also shows that Boise’s improved home prices are part of a broader recovery […]

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