This is the second of a three-part series about Idaho’s rural economy. This part evaluates which dynamics influence rural Idaho’s dwindling labor force.

Part one examines elements impacting Idaho’s rural economy today, including population, educational attainment, industries, occupations and wages.

Part three projects how rural Idaho’s population by age group and labor force participation will look in 10 years based on the previous 10-year trends.

…..

A lack of skilled labor is an ongoing struggle for Idaho’s rural economy. Idaho’s rural labor force has not grown since 2010; during the same period, the state’s urban labor force grew by more than 7 percent. The question of labor force is therefore critical to evaluating rural economies. Specifically, it is important to understand what caused stagnation in rural labor forces. In this analysis, we evaluate demographic and economic factors to determine whether rural labor force issues are caused by the usual suspects – aging and economic conditions – or whether there are other, undiagnosed problems. This analysis suggests that rural Idaho’s labor forces have declined for demographic and economic reasons, and not due to cultural or structural factors which are unique to rural economies.

Idaho’s unemployment rate – the ratio of the number of unemployed persons to the total number of participants in a labor market – is often viewed as the go-to measurement of economic health. Yet it can be misleading as the unemployment rate can decline both due to employment growth – unemployed persons finding work – and a decrease in the total labor force – unemployed persons stop looking for work altogether. The former case represents an increase in economic activity, while the latter does not. Continue reading →

Information provided in this article 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

• Thorne Research – a Sandpoint-based nutritional supplement manufacturer – announced it is pulling out of northern Idaho. The company, which employs 270 people in the region, will build a new facility outside of Charleston, South Carolina. The new facility is expected to open in 2018. At that time Thorne plans to close all its northern Idaho operations. Source: Bonner County Daily Bee

Kootenai County

• Kootenai County’s building division has hired two out-of-state companies to conduct and plan reviews in an attempt to work through a large backlog of building permits. Permit requests in the county are at an all-time high – even surpassing the boom of 2005-2007 – and the county’s building division lacks the staff to keep up with demand. Source: Coeur d’Alene Press
• A toxic blue-green algae outbreak has been detected in the chain lakes along the Coeur d’Alene River. Health advisories have been issued by the Panhandle Health District, Idaho Department of Environmental Quality and the Coeur d’Alene Tribe encouraging people to avoid eating fish from the affected lakes and to avoid recreating near visibly polluted water. Source: Spokesman Review

Continue reading →

Information provided in this article 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

Region

• Wilderness recreation areas across Northern Idaho are still obstructed due to both wildfires and prescribed burns. Several wildfires – some of which began as long ago as July – are still burning in Bonner and Kootenai counties. Crews have also begun prescribed burns to clear away fuel in all five northern counties. Source: Bonner County Daily Bee, Coeur d’Alene Press, Spokesman Review

Benewah County

• After officer resignations left the city police department shorthanded, St. Maries signed an agreement with the Benewah County Sheriff’s Office to provide policing for the city. The agreement formalizes the role of the sheriff’s deputies in policing the city and places the city police under sheriff’s supervision. Source: St. Maries Gazette Record

Continue reading →

Information provided in this article 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 Rathdrum City Council approved a request from Avista to change the city’s zoning map in preparation for a possible natural gas power plant. Avista, which owns a 302-acre site in Rathdrum, said it is exploring plans to build a natural gas burning facility to help meet a projected ramp-up in customer demand.
• The North Idaho Outlet Mall, which has been mostly unoccupied for several years, is being rejuvenated and reoccupied. Tedder Properties – the new owner of the mall – will move its manufacturing operations into the southern end of the facility and lease the remaining spaces to retail occupants. Source: Coeur d’Alene Press
• Broadband provider Fatbeam announced a $3.2 million donation to the University of Idaho’s Research Park in Post Falls. This will provide access to a fiber network – owned by Fatbeam – and a long-term contract for broadband internet access. Access to fiber is timely, as UI has recently made a push toward computer science, including launching a new cybersecurity lab in the Post Falls research park. Source: Coeur d’Alene Press

Continue reading →

The Idaho Department of Labor has recently published long-term projections forecasting what Idaho’s labor market will look like in the year 2024. The outlook is very optimistic. Idaho’s employment is projected to grow by 1.8 percent annually through 2024. This compares favorably to the national growth projections of only 0.6 percent annually over the same time period, according to the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics. This forecast would surely put Idaho in a familiar place among the fastest-growing states.

Optimism is warranted by more than just the overall growth rate. Within the projections program, Idaho Labor has forecast scenarios for dozens of different major sectors and industries in the economy, with accompanying forecasts for occupations. According to these projections, Idaho’s economy will see significant growth in two important areas: service sectors and STEM occupations – science, technology, engineering and mathematics. The graph below shows the projected growth rates across various sectors of the economy.

Source: Idaho Department of Labor

Continue reading →