Category Archives: Labor Market

Idaho’s winter tourism continues to flourish amid affordable housing and wage lag

Winter tourism benefits are for people who regularly visit Idaho’s winter playgrounds and industry stakeholders that collect revenue from the industry. However, the state’s industry has challenges, particularly with people who support the industry on the labor front, including wage disparity, housing costs and the seasonal nature of employment.

Great promise in winter tourism

With the arrival of the 2025 ski and snowboarding season – two of Idaho’s premier ski resorts -Bogus Basin and Sun Valley, are both currently ranked top 10 nationally [1]. Other publications, annually, have more state ski destinations in their esteemed rankings. The state’s reputation for world-class skiing and snowboarding is a draw for stay-and-play winter sports enthusiasts visiting the state’s 18 ski resorts.

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Idaho’s meteorologists earn 14% more than the national median

Every year on February 2, our nation’s esteemed animal meteorologist, Punxsutawney Phil, lets the country know if he predicts an early spring or six more weeks of winter.

Meanwhile, local atmospheric and space scientists (Standard Occupational Classification 19-2021), including meteorologists, weather analysts and forecasters, continue to study and predict Idaho’s weather on a daily and long-term basis. Continue reading →

Around Idaho: Economic activity, January 2025

Map of IdahoInformation provided in these news updates is collected up until the end of January 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

  • A joint Spokane-Coeur d’Alene aerospace tech hub has received $48 million in federal funding from the U.S. Department of Commerce. A consortium made up of more than 50 public and private sector organizations in Spokane and northern Idaho, including labor and workforce organizations, local governments, educational institutions and manufacturers applied for a first round of federal funding for the tech hub. The organizations failed to make the initial list of 12 projects to be funded in the first round. However, the Spokane-Coeur d’Alene tech hub was among the six projects selected for funding in the second round. Source: Journal of Business
  • Despite a relatively snowless and warm winter at lower elevations, significant precipitation in northern Idaho is expected to end the region’s two-year drought. According to the Idaho Department of Water Resources, the mountain snow water equivalent was 135% of normal in the northern Panhandle. After two years of significant drought, the ongoing wet winter is expected to bring an end to drought conditions. Source: Coeur d’Alene Press

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Labor economists will discuss the labor market outlook for 2025 in webinar, Jan. 28

NEWS RELEASE

For Immediate Release: Jan. 22, 2025
Media Contact: Craig.Shaul@labor.idaho.gov

Idaho Department of Labor Research Analyst Supervisor Craig Shaul will lead a discussion about the state’s labor market outlook for 2025 in a free webinar, Tuesday, Jan. 28. Labor economists Jan Roeser and Ryan Whitesides will participate in the discussion.

The webinar topics include the state’s economic growth, inflation, population growth, labor market growth and more. These topics will be covered more in-depth in additional webinars during 2025. The team will also be discussing research projects that will be released this year.

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National Bagel Day: Idaho bakers’ wages and employment on the rise

Today, bagel lovers rise to the occasion to celebrate National Bagel Day. This annual celebration is only possible due to the tireless efforts of bakers (Standard Occupational Code of 51-3011).

In Idaho, the median wages and employment for bakers have been on a roll in recent years. In 2023, the median hourly wage for this job was $15.34 — an increase of 31.1% from $11.70 in 2018. Similarly, estimated employment was 1,330 in 2023 — up from 900 in 2018. Continue reading →

Around Idaho: Economic activity, December 2024

Map of IdahoInformation 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

Bonner County

  • An application for a large industrial facility in northern Sandpoint is under review by the city’s Planning and Zoning Commission. Although the operator of the proposed facility has not been announced yet, the traffic impact study for the project indicates a 25,500 square foot facility which would employ roughly 150 people. Source: Coeur d’Alene Press

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Idaho’s labor markets normalize and project further growth

Idaho’s economy and labor market experienced extreme and varied conditions in recent years. The COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 sparked an unprecedented burst of job losses, pushing unemployment to record levels in Idaho and across the nation. However, the return to normal economic activity in 2022 left Idaho employers rushing to refill the jobs temporarily lost during the pandemic, resulting in open job postings rising to nearly 80,000 by the summer of 2022.

Within the span of a few years, Idaho experienced record levels of both unemployment and unfilled jobs, reaching both extremes of the labor market. Idaho reached its highest ever level of unemployment in April 2020 at 11.8%, before plunging to its lowest unemployment rate in history in April 2022 at 2.7%. Continue reading →

Idaho’s population surpasses 2 million in 2024

NEWS RELEASE

For Immediate Release: Dec. 20, 2024
Media Contact: Samuel.Wolkenhauer@labor.idaho.gov or Jan.Roeser@labor.idaho.gov

Correction: This release originally listed incorrect data in the last paragraph regarding composition of change to the population. Net migration from other U.S. states has been updated to read 74.1%, natural growth has been updated to read 13.4% and international migration has been updated to read 13.6%.

Idaho’s population continued its long-running pattern of growth in 2024, surpassing 2 million residents, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

The state’s total population on July 1, 2024, was 2,001,619 people, an increase from 1,971,122 people in 2023. The total increase of 30,497 people gave Idaho an annualized growth rate of 1.5%, which ranked 7th in the nation. This information comes from the newly released Vintage 2024 Population Estimates published by the U.S. Census Bureau on Dec. 19.

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Idaho leads nation in income growth rate and dollar change

NEWS RELEASE

For Immediate Release: Dec. 16, 2024
Media Contact: Jan.Roeser@labor.idaho.gov

The U.S. Census Bureau’s 2019-2023 American Community Survey (ACS) release shows Idaho leads the nation in median household income growth rate at 15.5%, compared with the previous survey for 2014-2018.

In addition, Idaho’s median household income increased by $10,011 from the previous five-year survey, doubling the nation’s uptick of $5,144 and higher than the other 49 states and District of Columbia.

Arizona ranked second for its growth rate at 12.3% and California ranked second for median household income dollar change which increased by $9,630. The nation’s income growth rate was 7%.

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Labor economist will discuss Idaho’s current economy and labor force at webinar Dec. 17

NEWS RELEASE

For Immediate Release: Dec. 11, 2024
Media Contact: Samuel.Wolkenhauer@labor.idaho.gov

Idaho Department of Labor economist Sam Wolkenhauer will discuss how the state’s economy is showing levels of growth at a free webinar Tuesday, Dec. 17.

The webinar will include topics such as inflation, employment, the unemployment rate and population. The presentation takes place from 11 a.m. to noon MT over Zoom. Continue reading →