A continuing slowdown in construction, a soft holiday shopping season and layoffs in manufacturing pushed Idaho’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate up three-tenths of a percentage point to 3 percent in December.
Nationally, unemployment increased by three-tenths to 5 percent, the 75th month it has been higher than the Idaho rate.
December’s increase was the largest November-to-December increase since 1978 when the current rate calculation system began and the third straight month the rate has risen since the fall of 1982 when the rate peaked at 9.4 percent.
The total number of people working decreased by 4,900 from November to 738,300 while the number of unemployed jumped 2,200 to 23,000. It was the third consecutive month of falling employment and rising unemployment with the number of people working dropping by 13,500 the number of unemployed jumping by 5,100.
Idaho’s rate remained substantially below what many economists consider full employment and two full percentage points below the national jobless rate. But the trend over the final quarter of 2007showed a definite slowdown in the Idaho economy with the unemployment rate expected to hover at 3 percent or continue rising during the early part of 2008.
The year ended as it began with 3 percent unemployment, but 10 straight months of lower rates in between, including record lows of 2.3 percent, resulted in an average unemployment rate for 2007 of a record 2.6 percent. Idaho posted the lowest unemployment rates in the nation in May, July, August, September, October and November of 2007 with unemployment below 4 percent for 29 straight months.
Last year total employment averaged 738,900, a record high for a record labor force of nearly 759,000. About 15,300 more people were working in 2007 than the year before, and unemployment averaged 19,900, the lowest since 1978.
Year over year, 7,200 more people were on the job in December. That 1 percent increase was the smallest 12-month increase since August 2003 when the state was still recovering from the 2001 national recession. The number of unemployed workers was down only 1,300 from December 2006, or 5.3 percent, the smallest year-over-year decrease since July 2003.
The annual average unemployment rate decreased for the fifth consecutive year in 2007, dropping eight-tenths of a percentage point from 3.4 percent in 2006. The average rate was 3.8 in 2005, 4.7 in 2004 and 5.3 percent
in 2003. The nation’s preliminary 2007 average unemployment rate was 4.6 percent, unchanged from 2006. It continued to be the lowest rate since 2000’s 4 percent.
Clearwater County posted the only double-digit rate of 2007 at 10.9 in March, but it approached double digits again in December with an unemployment rate of 9.8 percent. Two other rural counties reported unemployment rates over 7 percent – Adams at 8.8 percent and Benewah at 7.8 percent. A year ago, four rural counties posted jobless rates over 7 percent with Boundary the highest at 8.3 percent.
For the year, Clearwater County recorded the highest average rate at 6.6 percent followed by Boundary at 5.4 percent, Benewah and Adams at 5.1 percent and Shoshone at 5 percent.
The lowest county unemployment rate in December was 1.2 percent in Teton County. Owyhee came in at 1.5 percent and Franklin at 1.3 percent. There were 15 counties with rates at 3 percent or less. A year ago, 18 were at or below 3 percent.
In 2007, most industries grew including retail trade, business services, health care and social assistance and local government. Construction, which had been a leading growth industry the past several years, experienced very modest job gains in early 2007 before beginning to shed jobs last spring. Manufacturing jobs, after expanding the two previous years, disappeared in 2007 with losses in all major sectors – wood, food and electronics.
Seasonally Adjusted Forecast Data
|
|
12/07
|
11/07
|
12/06
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Civilian Labor Force
|
761,300
|
764,000
|
755,400
|
|
Unemployment
|
23,000
|
20,800
|
24,300
|
|
% Labor Force Unemployed
|
3.0
|
2.7
|
3.2
|
|
Total Employment
|
738,300
|
743,200
|
731,100
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Unadjusted Forecast Data
|
12/07
|
11/07
|
12/06
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Civilian Labor Force
|
758,300
|
762,100
|
754,300
|
|
Unemployment
|
22,800
|
19,300
|
24,100
|
|
% Labor Force Unemployed
|
3.0
|
2.5
|
3.2
|
|
Total Employment
|
735,500
|
742,800
|
730,200
|