Idaho’s July unemployment rate shows slight increase to 2.6%

Idaho’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 2.6% in July, up 0.1 percentage points from June.

The number of Idahoans employed or looking for work grew by 3,938 people (0.4%) to 952,500. Labor force participation increased by 0.1 percentage points between June and July to 62.6%. Idaho’s peak participation rate reached 71.4% in September 1998.

July’s labor force growth was caused by increases in both employed and unemployed persons. Total employment grew by 3,364 (0.4%) to 927,974 while total unemployment increased by 574 (2.4%) to 24,526.

According to Help Wanted Online, there were 63,010 online job postings in Idaho during July, equating to 2.6 job openings for every unemployed Idahoan looking for work.

Idaho’s nonfarm jobs exceeded seasonal expectations in July, showing an adjusted increase of 4,300 jobs to 823,000. Industry sectors with the greatest over-the-month gains include health care and social services (2.8%); federal government (1.6%); private educational services (1.5%); arts, entertainment and recreation (1.3%); durable goods manufacturing (1.2%); information (1.2%); professional and business services (0.9%); transportation, warehousing and utilities (0.6%); and local government (0.5%).

Industries with the greatest job declines in July were other services (-2.7%), accommodation and food services (-0.8%), wholesale trade (-0.6%) and financial activities (-0.3%).

Five of Idaho’s six Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) saw over-the-month nonfarm job growth in July. Boise experienced the greatest increase at 0.6%, followed by Idaho Falls (0.5%), Coeur d’Alene (0.3%), Lewiston (0.3%) and Pocatello (0.3%). Twin Falls had no noticeable over-the-month change.

Idaho’s July unemployment rate is the first over-the-month increase in the state’s rate since July 2019.

Year over Year

Idaho’s unemployment rate was down 1 percentage point from July 2021. The labor force was up 3.7%, an increase of 33,593 people.

The number of unemployed Idahoans dropped 26.3% (-8,758) from July 2021, while the number of employed rose 4.8% (42,351).

Idaho’s total nonfarm jobs increased by 3% (23,600) over July 2021. Every major industry sector showed over-the-year job increases except for other services (-3.8%), federal government (-1.5%), financial activities (-1.0%) and private educational services (-0.7%).

All six of Idaho’s MSAs saw year-over-year nonfarm job gains. Twin Falls saw the greatest increase at 3.9%, followed by Pocatello (3.7%), Boise (3.1%), Idaho Falls (2.9%), Coeur d’Alene (1.8%) and Lewiston (0.7%).

National Comparisons

Nationally, the unemployment rate dropped to 3.5% in July from June’s rate of 3.6%, and the number of unemployed decreased by 166,228 to 5.7 million. The national unemployment rate was equal to its pre-pandemic rate of 3.5% in February 2020. Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 528,000 (0.3%) to 152.5 million, which was just above pre-pandemic levels.

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This was originally published by the Idaho Department of Labor on idahoatwork.com.