Unemployment in Idaho creeps upward

The unemployment rate in Idaho edged up 0.1% from June to July with the job decreases in information, management and federal government among the highest.

Month over month, Idaho’s unemployment rate rose from 3.6% to 3.7%. The labor force in July decreased by 451 people to 1.01 million, IDOL stated, and the labor force participation rate also decreased 0.2%. Total employment was down by 643 people to 973,241 people and unemployment increased by 192 people, or 0.5%, to 36,892.

Nonfarm jobs in Idaho increased to 2,200, or 0.2%, in July for a total of 883,900, with the largest gains coming in the administrative, support and waste management industries (2.1%). Construction had the second highest job increases at 1%; transportation, warehousing and utilities were up 0.9%; arts, entertainment and recreation rose by 0.6%; private educational services also rose 0.6%; and nondurable goods manufacturing was up by 0.6% as well.

The biggest losses came from information and management of companies and enterprises, both at a 1.1% loss. Durable goods manufacturing was down 0.9%; federal government was down 0.7%; wholesale trade was down 0.3% and retail trade was down 0.1%.

Twin Falls had the largest job increases from June to July at 0.6%; Coeur d’Alene was up 0.5%; Boise rose 0.3%; Idaho Falls was up 0.2%; Pocatello remained the same and Lewiston saw a decrease of 0.3%, IDOL reported.

In year-over-year stats, Coeur d’Alene had the biggest job growth at 2.9%; Boise rose 2.7%; Pocatello was up 2.2%; Twin Falls rose 1.8%; Idaho Falls was up 1.6%; and Lewiston remained the same as July 2024.

The Idaho Department of Labor reported that the unemployment rate was the same as it was in July of 2024, with the labor force growing by 0.5%, with the number of employed Idahoans growing by 0.6% and the number of unemployed decreasing by 0.9%.

Across the nation, unemployment grew by 221,000 people to a total of 7.2 million people, up to 4.2% month over month, while nonfarm jobs rose by 73,000 people to 159.5 million.

The number of Americans filing for jobless benefits fell modestly last week, remaining in the historically low range since the U.S. economy emerged from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Applications for unemployment benefits for the week ending Aug. 9 fell by 3,000 to 224,000, the Labor Department reported Thursday. That’s below the 230,000 new applications that economists had forecast.

Weekly applications for jobless benefits are seen as a proxy for U.S. layoffs and have mostly settled in a historically healthy range between 200,000 and 250,000 since COVID-19 throttled the economy in the spring of 2020.

Two weeks ago, a grim July jobs report sent financial markets spiraling, spurring President Donald Trump to fire Erika McEntarfer, the head of Bureau of Labor Statistics, which tallies the monthly employment numbers. The BLS does not contribute to the weekly unemployment benefits report except to calculate the annual seasonal adjustments.

U.S. employers added just 73,000 jobs in July, well short of the 115,000 analysts forecast. Worse, revisions to the May and June figures shaved 258,000 jobs off previous estimates and the unemployment rate ticked up to 4.2% from 4.1%.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.