The U.S. Department of Labor readjusted Idaho’s forecasted unemployment rate on Friday, adding another point to put the seasonally adjusted rate for June at 8.4 percent, compared to 7.8 percent for May and 4.7 percent a year ago.
Idaho’s revised rate remained the highest unemployment rate the state has recorded since September 1983. This is the fourth time Idaho’s forecasted rate has been adjusted in the past year, but the first time it’s been adjusted upward.
Federal analysts determined Idaho’s labor force – the number of workers with jobs or looking for jobs – did not decline as significantly from May as earlier believed and reduced the decline from 2,900 to 1,600. While that increased total employment for the month to 686,500, still the lowest employment level since March 2005, it added 500 to the number of unemployed, pushing it to 62,700. Total unemployment for the state of Idaho has set a record in eight of the last nine months including June.