Citing the continued escalation in the number of unemployed in southwestern Idaho, Governor C.L. “Butch” Otter ordered extended operating hours for the Department of Labor’s Boise, Meridian and Canyon County offices.
Beginning today, Feb. 23, the three offices will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Thursday and from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday. The extended hours will run through March 14 when the policy will be reviewed. Friday hours will remain 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
“The biggest portion of Idaho’s unemployed workers is located in southwestern Idaho’s Boise-Nampa metropolitan area, where the unemployment rate has more than doubled in the last year,” Labor Director Roger Madsen said. “The department has a wide array of programs and services to help them from collecting unemployment benefits to searching for new jobs or securing the training needed to re-enter the work force.”
The Department of Labor is also assessing the need for additional money from the U.S. Department of Labor to assist workers idled by foreign competition or laid off en masse.
Last week, 48,000 unemployed workers received nearly $13 million in jobless benefits. A year earlier, the state paid just $5.7 million in benefits to fewer than 22,000 unemployed Idahoans.
Beginning next week, all unemployment benefit recipients will receive an extra $25 a week, financed by the federal government in the economic stimulus package. This additional $25 is temporary through Dec. 26 and expires when claimants exhaust their benefit allotments.
The local offices provide job seekers access to computers, fax machines, copiers and assistance in putting together résumés and sharpening interview skills as well as searching the database of job listings for the region, the state and the nation.
Workers can also access many programs and services through the Idaho Department of Labor Web site at http://labor.idaho.gov.