Category Archives: Employment News

Around Idaho: Economic activity, December 2025

Information provided in these news updates is collected up until the end of December and includes professional sources, news releases, weekly and daily newspapers, television and other media.

Northern Idaho
North central Idaho
Southwestern Idaho
South central Idaho
Southeastern Idaho
Eastern Idaho

NORTHERN IDAHO

Benewah, Bonner, Boundary, Kootenai and Shoshone counties

Regional news

Unfavorable weather has so far prevented area ski resorts from full and consistent operations. Lookout Pass and Silver Mountain, in Shoshone County, both had delayed openings and have since experienced intermittent closures due to inconsistent weather. Schweitzer, in Bonner County, currently has one lift operating. Idaho ranked No. 10 nationally for total annual skier visits. Source: Coeur d’Alene Press
Northern Idaho Advanced Care Hospital is expanding services with the opening of a new 17-bed rehabilitation unit at their Post Falls campus. This will raise the capacity at the Post Falls campus, which is shared with Rehabilitation Hospital of the Northwest, to a total of 47 intensive medical rehabilitation beds. Source: Coeur d’Alene Press

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Around Idaho: Economic activity, November 2025

Information provided in these news updates is collected up until the end of November and includes professional sources, news releases, weekly and daily newspapers, television and other media.

Northern Idaho
North central Idaho
Southwestern Idaho
South central Idaho
Southeastern Idaho
Eastern Idaho

NORTHERN IDAHO

Benewah, Bonner, Boundary, Kootenai and Shoshone counties

Regional news

The regional housing market remains strong, according to the Coeur d’Alene Regional Realtors. Median prices on single family homes increased 4.1% year over year in October, while year to date home sales increased 3.6% in Kootenai County. Median prices and sales also increased in Shoshone County by 3.9% and 6.4% respectively. Source: Coeur d’Alene Press

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Idaho grows its waste management workforce

Employment needs within Idaho’s waste management industry remain reliably consistent over time, reflecting the essential nature of the services it provides. Trash doesn’t take a day off and continues to be generated even during the coldest months of winter, the worst economic recessions and amid unpredictable 100-year pandemics. While trash volume will be dictated in part by consumer behavior, it is more closely associated with population growth.

Between 2014-2024, Idaho added 370,000 new residents and led the nation with a population growth rate of 23%. This was more than three times the U.S. growth rate of 7%.¹ During the same period, as shown in Figure 1, privatized waste management employment in Idaho added more than 2,000 jobs and increased by 98% (compared with 23% growth for the U.S. waste management sector). Like population, Idaho’s private waste management employment experienced the highest growth rate of any U.S. state.²

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Around Idaho: Economic activity, October 2025

Information provided in these news updates is collected up until the end of October and includes professional sources, news releases, weekly and daily newspapers, television and other media.

Northern Idaho
North central Idaho
Southwestern Idaho
South central Idaho
Southeastern Idaho
Eastern Idaho

NORTHERN IDAHO

Benewah, Bonner, Boundary, Kootenai and Shoshone counties

Regional news

Home sales and prices increased year over year in the Inland Northwest, including in Kootenai County. Year to date single family sales in Kootenai County were 1,892 at the end of September (a 4% increase over 2024) while median prices climbed to $547,250 for a 3% year over year increase. Source: Journal of Business

Kootenai County

A new affordable housing development is opening in Post Falls. ’The Arc’ features 38 single family homes priced at $375,000, with resale limitations designed to ensure long-term affordability. Source: Coeur d’Alene Press

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The rising cost of living in Idaho limits labor force availability

Idaho’s economy has grown rapidly over the past decade, yet the benefits of growth have not been evenly distributed. While Idaho’s poverty rate is the 15th lowest in the nation at 10.6% ¹ and unemployment remains low, many Idahoans continue to struggle with the rising cost of living.

Median home prices in Idaho have more than doubled since 2016, and rents have risen at one of the fastest rates in the nation.² Combined with higher costs for essentials such as food, child care and transportation, even full-time workers often find themselves increasingly burdened by the rising cost of living.

Poverty and rising costs of living have significant impacts on the labor force, from high mortgage rates constraining labor mobility to the rising cost of raising a family depressing the birthrate.

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Around Idaho: Economic activity, September 2025

Information provided in these news updates is collected up until the end of September and includes professional sources, news releases, weekly and daily newspapers, television and other media.

Northern Idaho
North central Idaho
Southwestern Idaho
South central Idaho
Southeastern Idaho
Eastern Idaho

NORTHERN IDAHO

Benewah, Bonner, Boundary, Kootenai and Shoshone counties

Regional news

Northern Idaho is currently in a drought at the highest ratings of severity, according to hydrologists with the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Several years of below-normal snowpack, low rainfall totals and above-normal temperatures have created “extreme to exceptional” drought in the region. Recent data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration showed more than 50% of measured stream flow sites in the region are below normal. Source: Coeur d’Alene Press

Kootenai County

Local governments in Kootenai County are completing their budgetary approval processes for the 2025-2026 fiscal year. The Coeur d’Alene City Council approved a $151.9 million budget with an allowable 3% property tax increase, and Post Falls approved a $165 million budget with a 3% property tax increase. County commissioners approved a $144 million budget for Kootenai County, with a 2.5% tax increase. Source: Coeur d’Alene Press
Major changes are coming to the retail development on US 95 at Neider Avenue in Coeur d’Alene. Construction is underway on a Raising Cane’s chicken restaurant, with confirmed plans for additional businesses in the shopping center, including a Mexican restaurant called Cultura CDA and national chains like Jersey Mike’s Subs, Nothing Bundt Cakes and Sleep Number. The shopping center currently houses At Home, Tractor Supply and Safeway. Source: Coeur d’Alene Press

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Around Idaho: Economic activity, August 2025

Information provided in these news updates is collected up until the end of August and includes professional sources, news releases, weekly and daily newspapers, television and other media.

Northern Idaho
North central Idaho
Southwestern Idaho
South central Idaho
Southeastern Idaho
Eastern Idaho

NORTHERN IDAHO

Benewah, Bonner, Boundary, Kootenai and Shoshone counties

Regional news

Bonner County

The ongoing Sunset Fire northeast of Athol has burned more than 3,200 acres. Due to the fire, the U.S. Forest Service announced a closure order for the Idaho Panhandle National Forests. Source: KHQ News

Kootenai County

The North Idaho State Fair opened Aug. 15 for its annual 10-day run at the Kootenai County fairgrounds. The 2025 theme was “Keeping Tradition Alive,” and the fair featured hundreds of attractions and vendors. Source: Coeur d’Alene Press
The Coeur d’Alene City Council has proposed a $152.6 million budget for the 2025-2026 fiscal year which includes a 3% property tax increase, which will generate $835,702 in additional revenue. The city council held public hearings concerning the proposed budget in August. Source: Coeur d’Alene Press
Home prices edged further upward in Kootenai County according to the latest market snapshot from Coeur d’Alene Regional Realtors. The median home price increased to $545,000, which was a 3.3% increase year over year. Active listings and single-family home sales in Kootenai County have both increased slightly year over year, while average days on market has declined slightly. Source: Journal of Business

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Idaho’s agricultural landowners are getting older

The population of those 65 and over continues to increase in the counties of Idaho that contain a large amount of agricultural land. As a result, older Idahoans who own this land are at a crossroads of whether to pass it to a successor or sell it when they can no longer tend to it themselves.

Idaho’s landownership

The seven largest private commercial landowning organizations or individuals in the state account for 6% of the total private land, with an estimated 1.8 million total acres in land usage for farming, ranching or logging [1]. The other 70.4% is public land. Continue reading →

Around Idaho: Economic activity, July 2025

Information provided in these news updates is collected up until the end of July and includes professional sources, news releases, weekly and daily newspapers, television and other media.

Northern Idaho
North central Idaho
Southwestern Idaho
South central Idaho
Southeastern Idaho
Eastern Idaho

NORTHERN IDAHO

Benewah, Bonner, Boundary, Kootenai and Shoshone counties

Regional news

Kootenai County

Construction is underway on a large new mixed-use project in Post Falls. Named ‘Nonna,’ the project includes a 50,000 square-foot building with four stories, including commercial space on the ground floor and 33 apartment units on the upper three levels. Commercial tenants will include a ground-floor brunch restaurant. Source: Coeur d’Alene Press
A new food truck court, called Eats On Spokane Street, is open in Post Falls. The location includes a new open-air building which houses MelFit Healthy Kitchen and Nachos Cantina, with four food trucks including Charcuteria, Angel’s Eats and Treats, Woody’s Smoked Salmon and Taco Works. There are three remaining spaces for additional food trucks. Source: Coeur d’Alene Press

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Around Idaho: Economic activity, June 2025

Information provided in these news updates is collected up until the end of June and includes professional sources, news releases, weekly and daily newspapers, television and other media.

Northern Idaho
North central Idaho
Southwestern Idaho
South central Idaho
Southeastern Idaho
Eastern Idaho

NORTHERN IDAHO

Benewah, Bonner, Boundary, Kootenai and Shoshone counties

Regional news

Kootenai County

Coeur d’Alene Ironman was held on Sunday, June 22. The 70.3-mile triathlon, which has become a fixture summer event in Coeur d’Alene, drew more than 1,000 athletes to northern Idaho this year. Source: Coeur d’Alene Press
A new retail center in Coeur d’Alene is nearing completion and has begun announcing tenants. A Five Guys restaurant and EyeMart Express will anchor the new Heritage Square on U.S. 95 in northern Coeur d’Alene. The property has additional retail spaces available, with Five Guys set to open in July. Source: Coeur d’Alene Press
The Post Falls City Council approved a construction improvement agreement for a 148-lot subdivision in northern Post Falls. The project, dubbed Crown Reserve, will be located north of the Crown Pointe Subdivision and will require significant infrastructure improvements. No timeline has been published for construction. Source: Coeur d’Alene Press

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