Category Archives: News Releases

Idaho’s Hispanic Population Growth Continues in 2019

News Release

For Immediate Release: July 14, 2020
Media Contact: Georgia Smith, georgia.smith@labor.idaho.gov or Kathryn Tacke, kathryn.tacke@labor.idaho.gov

Idaho’s Hispanic population grew faster than the state’s population in 2019, according to estimates recently released by the U.S. Census Bureau. The number of Hispanics in Idaho rose 3.3 percent from 222,206 in 2018 to 229,490 in 2019, while the total population grew 2.1 percent.

From 2010 to 2019, the state’s Hispanic population grew 30.5 percent, while its total population grew 14 percent.

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Awards Ceremony to Recognize Idaho’s Top Volunteers and Philanthropists

News Release

For Immediate Release: July 9, 2020
Media Contact: Renee Bade, renee.bade@labor.idaho.gov

Serve Idaho, the Governor’s Commission on Service and Volunteerism, is partnering with the Idaho Nonprofit Center’s annual Idaho Philanthropy Day.

The event will recognize Idaho’s top volunteers and philanthropists with a series of ceremonies that will take place in November in northern, southwestern and eastern Idaho. The event will replace the annual Idaho’s Brightest Stars ceremony in Boise previously hosted by Serve Idaho.

“We are excited for this amazing opportunity to partner with the Idaho Nonprofit Center and other partners to recognize Idaho residents who give of their time, talents and treasures to better their communities” said Renee Bade, Serve Idaho program supervisor.

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Idaho’s Weekly Initial Claims Decline 9 Percent from Previous Week

News Release

For Immediate Release: July 9, 2020
Media Contact: Craig Shaul, Craig.Shaul@labor.idaho.gov or Salvador Vazquez, Salvador.Vazquez@labor.idaho

New initial claims for unemployment insurance benefits totaled 4,924 for the week ending July 4, decreasing 9 percent – or 493 claims – from the previous week.

The four-week moving average rose 6 percent to an average of 4,564 new initial claims per week.

Continued claims – the number of people who requested a benefit payment – dropped by 6 percent from the previous week to 29,090, the ninth consecutive week of declines. The four-week moving average fell 13 percent from 37,122 to 32,450 for the week ending July 4.

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Idaho’s Weekly Initial Claims Increase from Previous Week

News Release

For Immediate Release: July 2, 2020
Media Contact: Darlene Carnopis, darlene.carnopis@labor.idaho.gov or Georgia Smith, georgia.smith@labor.idaho.gov

New initial claims for unemployment insurance benefits totaled 5,417 for the week ending June 27, increasing 26 percent – or 1,132 claims – from the previous week.

The four-week moving average rose 11 percent to an average of 4,322 new initial claims per week.

Continued claims – the number of people who requested a benefit payment – dropped by 7 percent from the previous week to 30,866, the eighth consecutive week of declines. The four-week moving average for continued claims also fell 12 percent from 42,160 for the week ending June 20 to 37,122 for the week ending June 27.

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Labor Department Clears 85 Percent of Pending Unemployment Claims

News Release

For Immediate Release: July 1, 2020
Media Contact: Darlene Carnopis, darlene.carnopis@labor.idaho.gov or Georgia Smith, georgia.smith@labor.idaho.gov

The Idaho Department of Labor has cleared about 85 percent of 42,000 pending claims, as of June 6, and expects to work through the remaining 5,500 pending claims by mid-July.

A total of 120 Maximus call center agents are now working with department staff to answer phones and re-set passwords among other tasks. With increased staffing, wait times have been cut in half and most calls are now being answered. Call volumes have significantly decreased as backlogs reduce.

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Idaho Initiates Federal-State Extended Benefits

News Release

For Immediate Release: June 26, 2020
Media Contact: Darlene Carnopis, darlene.carnopis@labor.idaho.gov or Salvador Vazquez, salvador.vazquez@labor.idaho.gov

The Idaho Department of Labor is starting to notify unemployed workers who will exhaust extended benefits under the Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC) program that they can apply for additional benefits through the Federal-State Extended Benefit program.

Claimants must first exhaust all benefits available to them under the regular benefit program paid through the state and the PEUC program before they apply for Federal-State Extended Benefits.

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HP Contract Workers May Qualify for Training and Services under Trade Act

NEWS RELEASE

For Immediate Release: June 26, 2020
Media Contact: Darlene Carnopis, darlene.carnopis@labor.idaho.gov or Kathy Nesmith, kathy.nesmith@labor.idaho.gov

Employees of 30 companies working onsite at the Hewlett Packard Inc., Imaging, Printing and Solutions Business Group in Boise may be eligible for employment services under the Trade Act Assistance (TAA) program.

Those workers eligible to apply must have separated or partially separated from the HP group between June 27, 2018, and before April 20, 2022, and must have worked in the supply of imaging, printing and business solution services, including product development, at Hewlett Packard in Boise.

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Idaho’s Weekly Unemployment Initial Claims Increase from Previous Week

NEWS RELEASE

For Immediate Release: June 25, 2020
Media Contact: Salvador Vazquez, salvador.vazquez@labor.idaho.gov or Craig Shaul, craig.shaul@labor.idaho.gov

New initial claims for unemployment insurance benefits totaled 4,285 for the week ending June 20, increasing 18 percent – or 654 claims – from the previous week.

The four-week moving average declined 3 percent to an average of 3,879 new initial claims per week.

Continued claims – the number of people who requested a benefit payment – dropped by 10 percent from the previous week to 33,060, the seventh consecutive week of declines. The four-week moving average for continued claims also fell 12 percent from 48,068 for the week ending June 13 to 42,160 for the week ending June 20.

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Idaho Labor Department Takes Steps to Combat Fraud

NEWS RELEASE

For Immediate Release: June 19, 2020
Media Contact: Georgia Smith, georgia.smith@labor.idaho.gov or Darlene Carnopis, darlene.carnopis@labor.idaho.gov

Crime rings across the globe are exploiting the COVID-19 crisis by attempting to commit large scale fraud against multiple state unemployment insurance programs and Idaho is not exempt.

These crime rings possess substantial databases of stolen personally identifiable information which is used to submit a large volume of applications for unemployment benefits. Scammers use the names and addresses of Idaho residents, but then have payments sent to bank accounts in other states or have bank cards mailed to different addresses.

The Idaho Department of Labor uses many methods to flag potentially fraudulent claims and stop them from payment until the fraud team can review and confirm identity on the applications. Currently, the department has thousands of pending claims that have been identified as potentially fraudulent. About 45 percent of the claims flagged for identity theft turn out to be fraud.

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Idaho Unemployment Rate Falls to 8.9 Percent in May

NEWS RELEASE

For Immediate Release: June 19, 2020
Media Contact: Craig Shaul, craig.shaul@labor.idaho.gov or Karen Jarboe Singletary, karen.jarboesingletary@labor.idaho.gov

Note: This release includes revised labor market numbers provided by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. See below.*

Nonfarm jobs recover 3.5 percent

Idaho’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate fell to 8.9 percent in May, and non-farm payrolls regained 24,300 jobs as the state’s economy began a rebound from the COVID-19 pandemic.

May’s rate dropped from a revised record high of 11.8 percent in April, falling below former peak rates of 10.2 percent in December 1982 and 9.6 percent in June 2009 during the Great Recession.

Total employment increased 23,090 to 804,643, up 3 percent from April, while the number of unemployed Idahoans dropped by 24.2 percent, down 25,276 to 79,015.

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