Tag Archives: idaho jobs

Idaho’s March Unemployment Rate Down to 3.2%

NEWS RELEASE

For Immediate Release: April 16, 2021
Media Contacts: Karen Jarboe Singletary, karen.jarboesingletary@labor.idaho.gov or Salvador Vazquez, salvador.vazquez@labor.idaho.gov

Idaho’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 3.2% in March, dropping slightly from a revised 3.3% in February.

With an over-the-month increase of 1,100 jobs, the state’s nonfarm payroll growth has leveled off over the past two months.

Civilian Labor Force

Idaho’s seasonally adjusted labor force was virtually unchanged in March at 899,375, down from 899,915 in February.

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Salmon Native Discovers Path to Teaching Career

There are many advantages to living in a town the size of Salmon, which Hannah Burch found out when she returned to her hometown after living in Alaska for four years.

“My mom ran into Julie Dodd in town and told her I was moving back and would be looking for work,” Hannah said. Julie is the manager of the Idaho Department of Labor Salmon office, and that was the contact she needed.

“Julie met with me and said she might have something,” Hannah said. That something turned into a training opportunity for Hannah to earn elementary education teacher training online through Western Governors University (WGU). And now Hannah, 26, is running a homeschool co-op for kids from kindergarten through sixth grade.

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Idaho Unemployment Rate Falls to 4.8 Percent in November

NEWS RELEASE

For Immediate Release: Dec.18 2020
Media Contact: Craig Shaul, Craig.Shaul@labor.idaho.gov or Karen Jarboe Singletary, karen.jarboesingletary@labor.idaho.gov

State nonfarm jobs see first year-over-year increase since pandemic

Idaho’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate fell to 4.8 percent and nonfarm payrolls regained 6,200 jobs in November as the state’s economy continued to recover.

The unemployment rate dropped seven-tenths of a percentage point in November from October’s 5.5 percent. The current rate is 7 percentage points below April’s historic high of 11.8 percent.

Labor Force

The number of unemployed Idahoans fell by 6,605 to 43,814 (-13.1 percent). As a result, Idaho’s seasonally adjusted labor force decreased by 6,765 to 906,033, but still remains 11,400 higher than its pre-pandemic level in March. The total number of employed went essentially unchanged from October, dropping by 160 to 862,219.

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Labor’s Caldwell Office to Hold Drive-Thru Job Fair

NEWS RELEASE

For Immediate Release: Nov. 12, 2020
Media Contact: Elizabeth (Lisa) Anzaldua, Elizabeth.Anzaldua@labor.idaho.gov

The Idaho Department of Labor’s Caldwell office is holding a drive-thru job fair Tuesday, Nov. 17 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. The event will be held in the office parking lot at 4514 Thomas Jefferson St., rain or shine.

Employers participating are Select Staffing, St. Luke’s, Amazon, Sorrento Lactalis and ZoRoCo Packaging. The businesses combined have more than 1,000 job openings to fill in positions such as housekeepers, cashiers, IT support, customer service, production operators, delivery drivers and more. Continue reading →

Manufacturing in Southwestern Idaho Offers Opportunity

Launching a new career, or considering changing a current one, can be daunting and even more so during the uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic. But In spite of the negative effects of the pandemic on many industries, manufacturing  can offers opportunities.

Manufacturing is an evolving industry, especially in southwestern Idaho ranging from semi-conductor chip manufacturing to potato chip manufacturing. The skill levels of the workforce over the past couple of decades have changed dramatically as manufacturing is more automated and less physically demanding in many cases. Markets have changed with more global opportunities for Idaho products.

The highest level of manufacturing among Idaho’s six regions is in southwestern Idaho with more than 30,000 jobs across its 10 counties – 47 percent of all Idaho manufacturing jobs. South central Idaho has the next largest share at just 15 percent. The southwestern region’s 10 counties are diverse and include the state’s largest metropolitan area, Boise, remote small counties with logging traditions and vast counties citing its greatest population density as sagebrush and four-legged beef cattle. The share of manufacturing jobs in southwestern Idaho is higher than the nation’s by 4 percent but ranks fifth in share among Idaho’s six regions — the other five regions have significantly fewer total jobs than southwestern Idaho. The trend is showing some downward movement due to reduced production by large tech employers such as HP and Micron.

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New Idaho Falls Costco Taking Applications for all Departments

NEWS RELEASE

For Immediate Release: June 8, 2020
Media Contact: Connie Gardner, connie.gardner@labor.idaho.gov

The new Costco in Idaho Falls, slated to open in late summer, plans to begin hiring staff in mid-June and are asking interested job seekers to begin applying for positions online.

Up to 150 job are available ranging from cashiers, stockers and general members service jobs to skilled positions such as pharmacists, pharmacy techs, hearing aid specialists, meat cutters, cake decorators, bakers and tire center staff.

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Idaho Stores Grow Despite ‘Retail Apocalypse’

Idaho retail employment grew 2.5 percent between 2016 and 2018, despite a national spate of store closures and employment declines.

With many retail chains closing hundreds of stores across the U.S., headlines about a “retail apocalypse” have appeared on news sites. Last year, according to Coresight Research, 5,524 stores across the United States closed. In the first eight months of this year, 8,051 closed. This year closures could exceed the record set in 2017, when 8,139 stores were shuttered. Challenger, Gray & Christmas counts 53,248 announced retail job cuts for the first half of this year, compared with 98,563 for all of last year.

Between 2016 and 2018, employment in U.S. retail stores fell 0.2 percent, while employment at Idaho’s retail stores grew 2.5 percent, from 81,265 to 83,330. Between June 2018 and June 2019, retail store jobs in the U.S. fell 0.5 percent, while they rose 1.8 percent in Idaho, adding 1,600 jobs.

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Idaho’s July Unemployment Rate up Slightly to 2.9 Percent

NEWS RELEASE

For Immediate Release: Aug. 16, 2019
Information Contact: Robert Kabel (208) 332-3570 ext. 3886 or Darlene Carnopis (208) 332-3570 ext. 3439

Over-The-Year Nonfarm Job Growth Remains Stable

Idaho’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate edged up from 2.8 in June to 2.9 percent in July, the 20th consecutive month at or below 3 percent.

An additional 2,834 people made themselves available for work in July, pushing Idaho’s seasonally adjusted labor force up to 876,539. The number of unemployed increased by 400 to 25,061. Total employment grew by 2,434 to 851,478.

Idaho’s labor force participation rate – the percentage of people age 16 years or older working or looking for work – remained at 64 percent.

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Explore Career Opportunities in Variety of Industries at April 30 Expo

NEWS RELEASE

For Immediate Release: April 18, 2019
Information Contact: Vicki Raass, (208) 364-7781 ext 3876

Representatives from several industries will be on hand at the Ford Idaho Center in Nampa on April 30, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., to give young people and other job seekers information about different careers available in the area.

Explore Your Future career expo provides a behind-the-scenes look at local businesses and highlights careers in health care, public safety, IT, aerospace, transportation, manufacturing, construction, agriculture, military, energy and many more.

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Idaho Labor Helps Premier Technology Launch Registered Apprenticeship Program

News Release

For Immediate Release: Feb. 12, 2019
Information Contact: John Russ, (208) 332-3570 ext. 3303

Premier Technology in Blackfoot is the most recent company in Idaho to earn a certificate establishing its first Registered Apprenticeship program. Premier’s new apprenticeship for machinists became registered with the U.S. Department of Labor Office of Apprenticeship for meeting national standards.

The idea took root after Premier’s Human Resources Manager Nicole Simpson attended a presentation at Idaho State University, where the Idaho Department of Labor and Idaho Career and Technical Education shared information about how to establish an apprenticeship program and its benefits. With support from Premier’s management, Simpson got in touch with John Russ, the Apprenticeship Idaho coordinator at Labor.

“It was daunting to see all this information about registered apprenticeships and figure out how to put this program together, but the Department of Labor made it very easy,” Simpson said.

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