Category Archives: Employment News

Around Idaho: Economic Activity in July 2022

Information provided in these news updates is from professional sources, news releases, weekly and daily newspapers, television and other media.

Northern Idaho
North Central Idaho
Southwestern Idaho
South Central Idaho
Southeastern
Eastern Idaho

 

NORTHERN IDAHO – Benewah, Bonner, Boundary, Kootenai & Shoshone counties

Kootenai County

  • Construction has begun on an 18-story, 60-unit luxury condominium tower in downtown Coeur d’Alene. The tower, to be named The Thomas George, has an estimated value of $45 million and will have units ranging in price from $800,000 to $4 million. Source: Journal of Business
  • The city of Post Falls annexed nearly 90 acres of agricultural land and approved zoning changes to lay the groundwork for the development of a new commercial corridor, as well as infrastructure improvements related to the construction of a new charter school. Construction of the planned Kootenai Classical Academy — the first charter school in Post Falls — is expected to begin this fall. Source: Journal of Business
  • The Coeur d’Alene City Council approved a $10 million water tank project to prevent water supply issues in the northeastern quadrant of the city. Urban growth has begun to stress existing water infrastructure, and city staff have assessed the need to accelerate water projects to avoid water supply issues. Source: Coeur d’Alene Press

Openings – Coeur d’Alene and Post Falls

  • Water World
  • Buck Wild Espresso
  • Engel & Völkers
  • Disaster Response
  • Bottle Joy Taphouse

Sam.Wolkenhauer@labor.idaho.gov, regional economist
(208) 457-8789 ext. 4451

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An analysis of Idaho’s home prices

The following is an executive summary from an analysis of why Idaho’s home prices have risen faster than the rest of the nation. Read the full report online.

Many economists view the housing market as one of the crucial indicators of the overall health of an economy. When the economy is approaching a recession, the real estate market is usually among the first sectors to slow down and among the first to recover during a boom. If this assessment is accurate, Idaho’s housing market prices during the past three years will be critical for future economic forecasts. The average value of single-family homes in the state has increased by about 173% since the third quarter of 2011, compared with nearly 80% nationally. Continue reading →

Around Idaho: Economic Activity in June 2022

Information provided in these news updates is from professional sources, news releases, weekly and daily newspapers, television and other media.

Northern Idaho
North Central Idaho
Southwestern Idaho
South Central Idaho
Southeastern
Eastern Idaho

 

NORTHERN IDAHO – Benewah, Bonner, Boundary, Kootenai & Shoshone counties

Bonner County

  • Schweitzer Mountain Resort has begun construction on resort improvements to create more efficient access to the mountain, including new roadways, 1,400 additional parking spaces and a new chairlift. This will be followed by future developments expanding the resort’s skiable terrain. Source: Bonner County Daily Bee

Kootenai County

  • The 50-acre Millworx location in Post Falls is now under development and will include a 60-unit mixed use building — with both multi-family residential units and commercial spaces — 61 townhomes, a hotel and several commercial buildings. The development, formerly home to the Idaho Veneer Mill, is slated for completion in 2023. Source: Coeur d’Alene Press
  • Construction has begun on the planned 18-story Thomas George building in Coeur d’Alene. The building will eventually include 60 luxury condominiums and retail spaces on the ground floor. It is scheduled for completion in March 2024. Source: Coeur d’Alene Press
  • The Kootenai Humane Society has begun construction on a new 20,000-square-foot shelter in Hayden. The new facility is expected to be completed by year-end. Source: Journal of Business

Openings

Coeur d’Alene

    • Toro Viejo & Barracho
    • ECJ Billiards
    • Bottle Joy Taphouse
    • Memory Lane Gems
    • Grace & Joy
    • Pearl and Tin

Region

    • Klein Chiropractic, Hayden
    • Advanced Personal Protection, Hayden
    • Paddler’s Alehouse, Sandpoint

Sam.Wolkenhauer@labor.idaho.gov, regional economist
(208) 457-8789 ext. 4451

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Idaho’s wage growth driven by lower income earners

While average wage gains seem to fit in an orderly pattern over the past 10 years, large differences exist in how these gains have been distributed among lower and higher wage earners.

Average wage increases provide one view of an economy’s current situation but looking at wages by percentiles shows where hourly income growth and declines are occurring.

Each percentile represents 1% of the labor force with hourly wages arranged in order from least to greatest. For example, the 10th percentile represents wages paid to the lowest 10% of the labor population. Wages in the 90th percentile are those paid to 90% of the working population. Any wages above the 90th percentile represent the top 10% of total wage earners.

The 50th percentile, also called the median, represents the midpoint value in a data series where half of the values (wages in this case) are below and half are above. The median differs from the average, which is calculated by adding up all the individual values and dividing the total by the number of values. The average wage may be a great tool for gauging overall change trends, but this figure can also be skewed by significant outliers on either extreme of wage distribution.

This analysis focuses on Idaho’s median wages for each of the percentiles reported by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: 10%, 25%, 50%, 75% and 90%.

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2021 Census estimates show Idaho’s urban cities continue to see population gains

NEWS RELEASE

For Immediate Release: June 1, 2022
Media Contact: Jan.Roeser@labor.idaho.gov or Sam.Wolkenhauer@labor.idaho.gov

Four southwestern Idaho cities ranked in the top five slots for population growth in the state from 2020 to 2021 according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2021 Vintage Population Estimates.* Idaho Falls, ranked fourth and was the lone city outside of southwestern Idaho to rank in the top five.

Boise remained Idaho’s largest city, followed by Meridian, Nampa, Idaho Falls and Caldwell. Meridian edged out Nampa as Idaho’s second largest city in 2014 with the population difference increasing each year. Rankings for the top 15 Idaho cities by population size are shown in Table 1, with one change from 2020 — Kuna displaced Moscow for the No.13 spot.

Nationally, Meridian, Caldwell and Nampa ranked 13, 14 and 15 of the fastest-growing cities of 50,000 residents or more across the U.S., each at or above 5% growth rate.

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Around Idaho: Economic Activity in May 2022

Information provided in these news updates is from professional sources, news releases, weekly and daily newspapers, television and other media.

Northern Idaho
North Central Idaho
Southwestern Idaho
South Central Idaho
Southeastern
Eastern Idaho

 

NORTHERN IDAHO – Benewah, Bonner, Boundary, Kootenai & Shoshone counties

Kootenai County

  • The nonprofit urban planning and community development organization, CDA 2030, published a new “Vision and Implementation Plan” for the greater Coeur d’Alene community. The plan outlines 134 actions and recommendations related to housing, park space, conservation and other quality-of-life items for the area. Source: Coeur d’Alene Press
  • North Idaho College received a $524,000 grant from the Idaho Workforce Development Training Fund to support its Workforce Training Center. The grant will fund apprenticeship programs for tradespeople and heavy equipment operators in the construction industry. The goal is to help meet the region’s enormous need for construction labor. Source: Coeur d’Alene Press

Openings – Coeur d’Alene

  • Capriotti’s Sandwich Shop
  • CDA Pet Market
  • Stylus Wine & Vinyl Bar
  • Integrity Mental Health
  • CaterCDA
  • Lake City Deluxe Barbershop
  • Brandon Cope Massage
  • Patriot Hangout
  • Sarah Hamilton FACE

Post Falls

  • Auto Paint Plus
  • North Idaho Urology
  • St Joseph’s Ear, Nose, Throat & Allergy Clinic

Hayden

  • Open Arms

Sam.Wolkenhauer@labor.idaho.gov, regional economist
(208) 457-8789 ext. 4451

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Idaho’s April Unemployment Rate Falls to Historic Low of 2.6%

NEWS RELEASE

For Immediate Release: May 20, 2022
Media Contact: Karen.JarboeSingletary@labor.idaho.gov or Salvador.Vazquez@labor.idaho.gov

Idaho’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 2.6% in April, down from March’s rate of 2.7%. April’s rate marks the third consecutive month of historic lows since record keeping began in 1976.

Idaho map with county unemployment ratesThe number of Idahoans employed or looking for work grew by 4,770 people (0.5%) to 937,023. Labor force participation increased by 0.1 percentage points between March and April to 62.1%. Idaho’s peak participation rate reached 71.4% in September 1998.

Total employment grew from March by 5,409 (0.6%) to 912,953 while total unemployment dropped by 639 (-2.6%) to 24,070.

According to Help Wanted Online, there were 49,443 online job postings in Idaho during April, or 2.1 job openings for every unemployed Idahoan looking for work.

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Idaho population projected to top 2 million by 2031

Recent population projections from the Idaho Department of Labor anticipate Idaho will continue its record of rapid growth, with the total statewide population crossing over 2 million for the first time by 2031.

The 2020 Census revealed the Gem State was the second-fastest growing state in the nation over the decade from 2010 to 2020, and single-year population estimates have ranked Idaho as the fastest-growing state for the past five years.

Idaho’s Labor Department’s latest projections anticipate a statewide growth rate of 1.1% per year over the 10-year period from 2021 to 2031, adding a total of 227,880 new residents to the state. This will raise Idaho’s population from 1,888,533 in 2021 to 2,116,413 in 2031.

All six of Idaho’s substate regions are expected to grow over the coming decade, with southwestern Idaho leading at 16.3% projected growth, followed by northern Idaho at 13%. These two regions together are expected to account for more than three quarters of the state’s total growth.

TABLE 1: Projected population growth by region

Projected Population Growth by Idaho Region

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Vacancy rates provide insight to hiring challenges

The exceptionally tight labor market in Idaho has left many employers hard-pressed to fill job openings. The monthly vacancy yield rate – the number of hires each month relative to the number of job openings at the end of the previous month – provides a barometer for employers’ ability to fill openings while its inverse provides an implied number of months to fill an opening.

An unprecedentedly tight labor market

Well before the COVID-19 pandemic and the economic disruptions it brought, the Idaho labor market would have been characterized as “tight,” but once businesses and the economy at-large reopened, the excess demand for workers relative to their supply only intensified.

One key barometer of a labor market is the ratio of job openings, or vacancies, to the unemployed, which is how macroeconomists typically define a labor market’s “tightness.” The larger the number, the more job openings are chasing after a fixed number of idle workers. For high ratios, we would typically expect to see wages rise as employers are forced to compete for limited talent; conversely, for small ratios, we would expect wages to fall as workers are forced to compete for a limited number of jobs.

Figure 1 plots the monthly job openings-to-unemployed ratio for Idaho as well as the United States for 2001-2021, adjusted for seasonality effects. For the entire sample, the average labor market tightness was about 0.81 openings for every unemployed Idahoan. Throughout 2021 the ratio hovered between 1.5 and 2, and by year’s end it reached a record 2.18.

Figure: labor market tightness

Note: Job openings are for total nonfarm jobs.
Source: Idaho Department of Labor, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

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Around Idaho: Economic Activity in April 2022

Information provided in these news updates is from professional sources, news releases, weekly and daily newspapers, television and other media.

Northern Idaho
North Central Idaho
Southwestern Idaho
South Central Idaho
Southeastern
Eastern Idaho

 

NORTHERN IDAHO – Benewah, Bonner, Boundary, Kootenai & Shoshone counties

Kootenai County

  • A new program designed to match senior homeowners with extra space with tenants is being launched in Kootenai County in response to the severe local housing shortage. The project, called HomeShare Kootenai County, aims to create additional rental inventory by leveraging seniors who have extra space or who maintain multiple residences and vacate their Idaho homes in the winter. Source: Journal of Business
  • The Idaho Department of Transportation is beginning work on the next phase of improvements to State Route 41, connecting Post Falls and Rathdrum. The highway improvements will facilitate the new commercial and residential development occurring on the prairie in north Post Falls. The state route improvements are scheduled to be completed this year. ITD plans to begin preparations for the replacement of the current interchange between the SR41 and I-90. Source: Journal of Business
  • After tourism recovered in 2021 and the area experienced a resurgent demand for lodging, Kootenai County now has two new hotels planned – one in Coeur d’Alene and one in Post Falls. A TownePlace Suites hotel by Marriott is under construction in Coeur d’Alene, which will include 89 rooms, while in Post Falls plans are in place for a 154-room hotel, though the brand has not yet been specified. Both hotels are expected to be finished this year. Source: Journal of Business

Openings – Coeur d’Alene

  • Reignite Health Northwest
  • Edgy Veggie Salad
  • Inspired Nail Spa
  • F45 Training
  • Rakes Mediation
  • Water World
  • Dixie & Co.
  • The Goat Lounge
  • Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices

Hayden

  • Hayden Furniture Depot

Sam.Wolkenhauer@labor.idaho.gov, regional economist
(208) 457-8789 ext. 4451

Continue reading →