Several thousand workers left the labor force in February as Idaho’s economy continued to slow down, pushing the state’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate up another tenth of a point for the second consecutive month to 2.9 percent.
Over 4,000 fewer people were employed in February than in January while 600 more people wanted jobs but could not find them. It was the first January-February period since the 2002 aftermath of the last national recession that employment dropped and unemployment rose.
Idaho’s overall labor force declined 3,500 to 755,300 from January’s record setting 758,800 as economic growth, especially in metropolitan Boise, cooled from the hot pace of recent years. The labor pool in the Boise metro area dropped 4,000 from January to February. Labor Department analysts believe workers may be opting for more education and training while some two-income households decide to shed low-paying jobs because escalating fuel prices and day-care costs outstripped the paychecks. Boise State University announced record spring semester enrollment, and quarterly increases in the average weekly wage in Idaho have been trailing the national average, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
February’s unemployment rate, up a tenth from 2.8 percent a year earlier, marked the 31st straight month that Idaho’s jobless rate has been below 4 percent – the level economists generally call full employment. It is also the 77th month that Idaho’s unemployment rate has been below the national rate, which dropped a tenth to 4.8 percent in February.
Construction jobs fell between January and February for the first time since 2004. The loss of retail jobs following a weak Christmas holiday shopping season, when employers hired markedly fewer temporary workers than usual, and subsequent store inventories also contributed to the decline. The job loss was offset by an increase of 3,500 jobs in education. The recreation and hospitality sector saw only a slight increase in jobs despite some of the best snow conditions this year.
Three counties reported unemployment rates above 6 percent in February. Clearwater County had the highest at 7.5 percent. Adams County reported 6.9 percent and Benewah 6.6 percent. Only one other county had a rate over 5 percent – Boundary at 5.7 percent.
Unemployment rates at or below 2 percent in February occurred in nine counties. Madison was the lowest at 1.5 percent. Butte followed closely at 1.6 percent with Teton and Owyhee at 1.7 percent. The counties that experience the highest and lowest unemployment rates are rural counties and, except for Madison where Brigham Young University-Idaho is located, generally are natural resource-based economies.
Seasonally Adjusted Forecast Data