The COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic has created unprecedented disruptions to the economy. Each week in March brought news and developments that were historic and overshadowed the previous week’s developments. It has been impossible to keep up with the magnitude and volume of the economic impact affecting Idaho and its regions.

To document this event in Idaho, and the changes our state is experiencing from week to week, the Idaho Department of Labor is providing a weekly update. Pertinent events and data as it becomes available will be provided for each region in Idaho, the state as a whole and the context of the national economy.

Statewide COVID-related updates

Regional COVID-19-related updates
Northern Idaho
North Central Idaho
Southwestern Idaho
South Central Idaho
Southeastern Idaho
Eastern Idaho

Statewide COVID-19-related updates

• As of April 22, Idaho’s confirmed cases of COVID-19 had increased to 1,802, a 19.5 percent increase over the prior week, an increase from the 13.4 percent weekly change reported the previous week.
• Initial unemployment claims remained elevated in the week ending April 18, with 13,023 claims filed. This marks a 30 percent decline from the previous week, but 12 times greater than all of 2019’s average. A total of 108,984 claims have been filed in the five weeks since Idaho’s state of emergency was declared.

Idaho Department of Labor 

Regional COVID-19-related updates

Northern Idaho

No current report available.

North Central Idaho

Region

• The economic crisis caused by COVID-19 continues to put north central Idaho residents out of work. In the week ending April 18, 313 workers in the region filed unemployment insurance claims. In the first five weeks of the coronavirus economic crisis, beginning March 15 and the week ending April 18, a total of 3,218 residents filed claims. About 6.1 percent of the region’s residents who had jobs before the coronavirus crisis filed unemployment insurance claims in the first five weeks of the crisis.
• In an average week in 2019, 141 residents in the region filed unemployment insurance claims. In an average week of the first five weeks of the coronavirus crisis, 626 residents filed claims.

• COVID-19 also is slamming the region’s ranchers, who face low cattle prices and great uncertainty about future demand. According to the census of agriculture conducted every five years, 854 farms and ranches in north central Idaho raised more than 52,000 cattle and calves in 2017, and the total market value of livestock sold was $34.6 million. Idaho County accounts for more than half of the cattle raised in the region. The shutdown of restaurants across the U.S. sharply reduced beef sales, pushing cattle prices down. The June futures contract for live fed cattle, which was $112 per hundredweight in February, closed at $80 April 13. The global economic downturn might further depress cattle prices, because American beef is sold around the globe. Source: Capital Press
• The Nez Perce Tribe is striving to help its tribe members, who have lost jobs because of the COVID-19 crisis, return to work. Native American workers in north central Idaho who identified themselves as American Indians or Native Alaskans filed 113 unemployment insurance claims between March 15 and April 12. That was about 9 percent of the Native Americans who held payroll jobs in the region before the crisis. Source: Idaho Department of Labor

 Clearwater County

• The Idaho Youth Challenge Academy in Pierce closed in late March, sending its 116 cadets home because of the COVID-19 shutdown. Cadets were given three options: withdraw from the program and be awarded the credits they earned up until the academy’s closure; withdraw and be given a “golden ticket” to come back for the next class that starts July 18; or finish out their schooling remotely. Half of the cadets decided to complete the course remotely, 45 percent chose to come back in July and 5 percent opted to retrieve the seven credits they had completed so far and leave the academy for good. The National Guard school helps high school students or dropouts from all over Idaho through boot-camp-style training combined with high school education, volunteer experiences, and one-on-one counseling and mentorships that last for a year after they complete the program. The academy educates two classes every year. Source: Lewiston Tribune

 Latah County

• Since consumers began stocking up on shelf-stable food for the COVID-19 crisis in February, dry beans, peas, lentils and chickpeas have been in high demand. Columbia Grain International at Portland reported a 40 percent increase in demand for pulse crops, and processing plants are working around the clock to fulfill an ever-increasing number of orders. The demand surge lead to a 12 percent bump in prices for growers in Latah County and neighboring counties, one of the leading producers of pulse crops in the U.S. Some farmers planted more acres with peas and lentils because of the demand surge. Source: Lewiston Tribune
• Northwest River Supplies plans to distribute tens of thousands of personal protective equipment (PPE) to a medical personnel and first responders in the Moscow-Pullman area in the coming weeks. The company is a global distributor and manufacturer of paddle sports equipment and apparel that employs nearly 100 people at its Moscow headquarters. The company operates a business division that supplies safety and rescue equipment to government agencies and nongovernmental organizations for emergency preparedness and disaster relief. It now is using that division’s supply chain to bring PPE to NRS headquarters, where it is redistributed to local hospitals and fire departments. The first shipment of about 60,000 pieces of PPE — including masks, respirators, goggles, gloves and gowns — arrived in Moscow in mid-April. Source: Moscow-Pullman Daily News
• The Pullman-Moscow Regional Airport will receive $18 million from the Federal Aviation Administration under the CARES Act. The airport will use a small part of the grant to cover payroll costs during the tremendous decline in air travel caused by COVID-19, but plans to use the majority of it to build a much larger terminal. The airport currently is in the design phase for the terminal and construction could begin in 2021. The terminal construction will cost between $30 million and $50 million. The airport already has $21 million in FAA money in addition to the $18 million CARES Act grant. Before the coronavirus, the Pullman-Moscow Regional Airport was on track to serve a record number of passengers in 2020. A total of 17,636 passengers boarded flights at the Palouse airport in January, February and March, 392 more than during the same time the previous year. Now, Alaska Airlines’ Horizon Air is operating just one round-trip flight a day between Pullman and Seattle, compared with as many as five round trips earlier in the year. Source: Moscow-Pullman Daily News

Nez Perce and Asotin Counties

•  Like airports across the country, the Lewiston-Nez Perce County Regional Airport has experienced a huge decrease in air travel. The number of daily SkyWest round-trip flights to Salt Lake City has dropped from three in February to one now, and far fewer passengers are on the average flight. The steep decline is hurting almost every form of revenue the airports receive, including landing fees, parking fees, leases from car rental companies and a $4.39 passenger facility charge that airports receive for each person who boards a plane at their facilities. To help airports across the U.S. cope with the drop in revenues, the CARES Act is providing federal aid to airports. The Federal Aviation Administration will provide $1.24 million for the Lewiston airport. Source: Lewiston Tribune; Idaho Business Review

Kathryn.Tacke@labor.idaho.gov, regional economist
Idaho Department of Labor
(208) 799-5000 ext. 3984

Southwestern Idaho

Region

• Initial claims for the week ending April 18 decreased 36 percent from the previous week. The number of initial claims in the region has accounted for 35 percent of all initial claims filed statewide since March 21.
• The number of females filing in the region accounted for 51 percent of the total, slightly below the 56 percent statewide. The region has always experienced a slightly lower rate than the state. The percent of females filing initial claims in the region was the highest at 58 percent for the week ending March 21.
• Accommodation and food service, and health care and social assistance continue to be the two industries in the region with the most claims. The two occupations with the highest number of initial claims have been office and administrative support and the food preparation and serving-related 

Updates

• Eighteen businesses have collaborated to improve access to COVID-19 tests for residents in the Treasure Valley. The antibody tests began as an effort for essential workers last week, but has expanded to all residents. The tests will be administered by Saltzer Health at its two Nampa locations, the Ten Mile location and remotely by arrangement where appropriate. The test costs around $100. The group will bill your insurance and will cover the cost of testing for those who can’t afford it or do not have insurance. Source: Idaho Press
• St. Luke’s is conducting COVID-19 lab tests in-house, with the lab capacity on track to surpass 1,700 tests a day in May. The move reduces the turnaround time from an average of three days to just two to four hours. St. Luke’s Core Laboratory recently received enough materials to test two of its instruments and began running COVID-19 test. Labs in Boise, Twin Falls, Ketchum, Meridian, Nampa and McCall have instruments up and running patient tests. Source: Idaho Press
• Boise State University is providing temporary housing for health care workers who do not want to return home to their families and risk exposing them to the coronavirus. The campus has residential capacity since most of the students have returned home. The health systems and Boise State are working together to ensure the facilities are maintained with hygiene and safety in mind. Each health care worker will be living alone in a suite of rooms, and will not share a living area or bathroom with anyone else. Source: Idaho Press
• The 11^th Annual Boise Music Festival scheduled for June 17 at Expo Idaho has been cancelled. Organizers are working to find a new date to hold the festival. Source: Idaho Statesman
• Boise State University announced on April 15 that it would suspend all events on campus and all summer camps through July 5. The suspension applies to any events scheduled for the Student Union Building, Special Events Center, Alumni and Friends Center, Stueckle Sky Center and most other campus venues and event spaces. ExtraMile Arena and the Morrison Center on campus, which host concerts, theatrical works and comedy shows, are working with the groups that have contracted to lease those spaces, and ticket holders should watch for individual announcements. All summer classes and university business will be conducted remotely. Source: Idaho Statesman

Janell.Hyer@labor.idaho.gov, senior economist
Idaho Department of Labor
(208) 332-3570 ext. 2330

South Central Idaho 

Blaine County

• The Sun Valley Culinary Institute announced it would postpone starting its first class until 2021, pushing out its planned fall 2020 opening. The institute still intends to have public cooking classes when the county’s COVID-19 shelter-in-place order is rescinded. Source: Idaho Mountain Express
• Following Sun Valley’s lead, Blaine County, Ketchum and Hailey opted to open up construction activity starting April 20. The county borders are still closed to non-essential travel and short-term rentals are unavailable. Source: Idaho Mountain Express
• The Blaine County Recreation District board voted to cancel its Aquatic Center programs for this summer. The center is currently undergoing a construction project estimated at $2.5 million that experienced setbacks in the completion schedule due to COVID-19. The center sees some 22,000 visits each summer. Last year, 450 kids enrolled in its learn-to-swim programs. An additional 100 participated in its swim team. The board appropriated $10,000 to be distributed among these workers for loss of income, but also foresees a possible need for additional counselors at summer camps if the social distancing continues, recreation opens up and demand for programs increases. Other recreational programs may be operational and have the potential to hire these 28 seasonal workers. Source: Idaho Mountain Express
• The Mint is continuing with its Western Wednesday evening line dancing that would normally draw 40 residents and visitors. It is virtually providing the music and line dancing to nearly 1,000 viewers. Source: Idaho Mountain Express
• A former Community School graduate returned home from Boise State University to go back to his high school alma mater and create face shields for first responders throughout the Wood River Valley. It took four hours for each shield using the 3-D printer that he used as a high school student. About 60 face shields were donated from this project. Source: Idaho Mountain Express
• The Blaine County Charitable Fund has grown to almost $140,000 after starting in March as a stabilizer for those service industry workers in need. There are individuals working in the community who do not meet the qualifications for the federal $1,200 stimulus checks, including undocumented workers. The fund has not turned away any applicants, especially considering many people are urgently in need. There is a six-person committee in place for disbursement of funds. Source: Idaho Mountain Express

Jerome County

• An anonymous donation of $100,000 from a Jerome couple is seed capital for the economic development organization to create the Jerome 20/20 Coronavirus Business Retention Grant Program. The funds are directed to those small businesses in Jerome County adversely impacted by COVID-19, and applications will be vetted by a committee comprised of Jerome 20/20 members. Source: KMVT News

Twin Falls

• Dutch Bros Coffee donated more than $3,200 to South Central Community Action Partnership during its Dutch Luv Day. This is an annual event that originally started as a canned goods drive and expanded into a day of giving from both customers and staffers towards food insecurity. Source: Times-News

Jan.Roeser@labor.idaho.gov, regional economist
Idaho Department of Labor
(208) 735-2500 ext 3639

Southeastern Idaho 

Latest counts show southeastern Idaho has recorded a total of 14 (lab confirmed and probable) cases of the coronavirus with no deaths. Bear Lake County, Franklin County and Oneida County are three of 12 counties in the state with no reported cases of the virus. Source: Idaho Department of Health and Welfare

Jobs/Industry

• Southeastern Idaho residents have filed 316 new unemployment insurance claims in the week ending April 18. So far, the region has seen a total of 2,715 initial claims in the past four weeks. Source: Idaho Department of Labor
• Despite the pandemic, business is booming at the Amy’s Kitchen Pocatello facility, and the family-owned company that manufactures organic convenience and frozen foods is planning to hire up to 50 more people for permanent positions. Most of those people will be working a second shift on the canning line, making soup that will be stocked in grocery stores. There has been only one shift on the canning line for years, but with an increase in demand, Amy’s Kitchen felt it needed to add another. Source: Idaho State Business Journal
• While several Pocatello area restaurants incorporated curbside services at the onset of the stay-home order, numerous bars and pubs have taken advantage of the governor’s new guidelines and are putting together an array of beverage and food items available for curbside pickup. Local bars that have begun to offer curbside service include the Pressbox Sports Bar, Pub New Harmony and the First National Bar. Source: Idaho State Journal

Resources

• A local business that specializes in making batteries has added a new component to its operations: making face shields for health care workers. Currently, Titan Power is making 50 shields a day, but it could be making up to 150 if the demand arises. Source: Idaho State Business Journal
• Pocatello Free Clinic is expanding its eligibility requirements to include serving people who are uninsured and below the 300 percent federal poverty rate. It used to be at the 200 percent rate. The change is meant to help the temporarily unemployed. Source: Idaho State Journal
• Business Women of Pocatello is giving $1,500 to female business owners in need, with a $1,000 grant for a member of the organization and $500 for a local non-member. The grant money is to help area female business owners weather the economic downturn caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The $15 application can be accessed at com by searching, “Business Women of Pocatello- Grant.” Source: Idaho State Journal

Esther.Eke@labor.idaho.gov, regional economist
Idaho Department of Labor
(208) 236-6710 ext. 4331

Eastern Idaho – Week ending April 10

Latest counts show eastern Idaho has recorded a total of 53 (lab confirmed and probable) cases of the coronavirus with no deaths. Butte County, Clark County and Lemhi County are three of 12 counties in the state with no reported cases of the virus. Source: Idaho Department of Health and Welfare

Jobs/Industry

• Eastern Idaho residents have filed 477 new unemployment insurance claims in the week ending April 18. So far, the region has seen a total of 4,347 initial claims in the past four weeks. Source: Idaho Department of Labor
• The Idaho Falls School District 91 is the latest local school district to announce it will stay in soft closure mode for the rest of the school year. Madison School District 321 and Jefferson School District 251 made similar announcements earlier last week. Source: East Idaho News
• Spud Drive-In outdoor movie theater opened last week under a banner of conditions in an effort to keep the community safe in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. A list of guidelines they intend to follow while they are open include parking cars six feet apart with a maximum of 110 cars. Source: Teton Valley News
• Many restaurants that have been shut down for weeks because of COVID-19, are taking advantage of the difficult situation by using the time to remodel their facilities. Firehouse Grill and Bar in Ammon and Smitty’s Pancake and Steak House in Idaho Falls are among the restaurants undergoing renovations. Source: East Idaho News

Resources

• AmeriHealth Urgent Care in Idaho Falls is now offering a unique testing method available to people experiencing symptoms of coronavirus or who have been exposed to the virus. The rapid finger-prick test takes less than 30 minutes to complete, it has a high percentage of accuracy and results are available within 24 hours. A drive-through location has been set up on 17th Street, half a mile down the road from AmeriHealth Urgent Care for those wishing to take the test. There are some drawbacks, though. Those who have a positive result will still need to get an additional nasal test to confirm it is COVID-19, and not another strain of coronavirus, says the Eastern Idaho Public Health District. Additionally, the finger prick tests are not counted by any government agencies as confirmed cases. Source: East Idaho News

Esther.Eke@labor.idaho.gov, regional economist
Idaho Department of Labor
(208) 236-6710 ext. 4331