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Idaho job growth leads nation |
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March 13, 2017 |
Idaho led the nation with a seasonally adjusted
over-the-year (January 2016 - January 2017) job
growth of 27,500 jobs and a growth rate of 4
percent – the fastest growth rate in the
country.
Year-over-year, all of Idaho’s major industry
sectors experienced job gains. Construction led
the way with 4,500 new jobs, up 11.3 percent.
Financial activities followed with 2,000 new
jobs, up 6 percent followed by a 1,300 job
increase in other services, up 5.5 percent. The
remaining sectors experienced growth rates above
2 percent.
Month to month, Idaho was second in the nation
in job growth at .7 percent between December
2016 to January 2017 with 4,900 new jobs.
Construction jobs again led the way with an
increase of 1,100, up 2.6 percent. Information
followed with a 200 job increase, up 2.2
percent; financial activities added 500 jobs, up
1.4 percent; and education and health services
jobs grew by 1,200, up 1.2 percent.
January’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate
held steady at 3.6 percent, the same rate
reported for December.
An additional 2,400 people entered the
workforce, pushing Idaho’s January seasonally
adjusted labor force number to 823,900. Total
employment increased by 2,600 to 794,100, and
the number of unemployed dropped by 200 to
29,800.
The state’s labor force participation rate – the
percentage of people 16 years and older with
jobs or looking for work – climbed to 64
percent, up slightly from December’s 63.9
percent.
There were more than 19,200 online postings for
Idaho jobs in January according to the
Conference Board. Of those postings, 4,600 were
classified by department analysts as
hard-to-fill. Health care-related jobs accounted
for 28.5 percent and includes physicians,
surgeons, psychiatrists, occupational and
physical therapists and support positions. By
volume, registered nurses and truck drivers
maintained the first and second spots for the
largest number of hard-to-fill jobs.
Annually, unemployment insurance benefit
payments were up nearly 21 percent - from $3.1
million a year ago to $3.7 million for January
2017. The number of claimants grew by 11 percent
from a weekly average of 10,300 a year ago to
11,400. Department analysts attributed the
larger-than-normal over-the-year increase to the
record-breaking snowfall and this winter’s deep
freeze.
Idaho’s county rates for January and February of
2017 will be included in the February employment
release scheduled for Friday, March 24.
Among Idaho’s Metropolitan Statistical Areas,
Boise experienced the strongest seasonally
adjusted over-the-year growth of 14,400 more
jobs or 4.8 percent. Month to month, the Idaho
Falls MSA was the fastest growing with 0.8
percent growth with 500 added jobs.
Details on Idaho’s unemployment picture can be
found at http://lmi.idaho.gov. |
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