Unemployment moves slightly downward in Idaho

From month to month at the end of 2025, unemployment ticked down by .1% in Idaho.

According to the Idaho Department of Labor, the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate decreased from 3.7% to 3.6% from November to December of last year.

The industries that saw the biggest employment gains in the state, IDOL stated, were professional, scientific and technical services at 1.4%; construction at 1.3%; private educational services at 1.2%; transportation, warehousing and utilities, also at 1.2%; and administrative, support and waste management services, health care and social services and other services all at 0.6%.

The labor force grew by 1,628 people to 1.01 million workers, or 0.2%, over the month. The labor force participation rate ― defined by IDOL as the percentage of people 16 years or older looking for work or who are employed ― remained unchanged at 62.9% from month to month.

Industries throughout the state that saw the biggest job losses were arts, entertainment and recreation at -2.5%; accommodation and food services at -1.6%; finance and insurance, also at -1.6%; nondurable goods manufacturing at -0.9%; real estate and rental leasing at -0.8%; wholesale trade at -0.6%; state government at -0.3%; and durable goods manufacturing at -0.2%.

IDOL reported that the metro areas in the state that saw the greatest job gains were Lewiston at 0.3% and Boise at 0.2%. Twin Falls and Coeur d’Alene both had decreases of -0.4% and -0.1% respectively, while Idaho Falls and Pocatello remained unchanged.

Since December of 2025, the Idaho unemployment rate has decreased from 3.8% to 3.6%. During that time, most industries saw job gains except wholesale trade, federal and state governments, nondurable goods manufacturing, natural resources, finance and insurance, real estate and rental leasing, arts, entertainment and recreation and retail trade all of which experienced the greatest losses. Wholesale trade took the hardest hit at -7.2%.

Compared to national averages, Idaho’s unemployment rate has been better than the country as a whole. From November to December of 2025, the national average decreased to 4.4%. Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 50,000 jobs to 159.5 million.