Unemployment rate tapers off

COEUR d'ALENE - The seasonally adjusted jobless rate declined in Kootenai, Benewah, and Shoshone counties from November to December, according to the latest Idaho Department of Labor statistics.

But the unemployment rate is higher in each county compared with the year-earlier month, the department reported Friday.

The unemployment rate in Kootenai County was 10.5 percent in December, down from 10.9 percent in November, and up from 10 percent in December 2009.

Benewah County came in at 14.2 percent in December, down from 14.9 percent a month earlier, and up from 13.6 percent a year earlier. Shoshone was at 13.6 percent last month, compared with 15 percent in November, and 13.5 percent in December 2009.

Alivia Body, regional labor economist for the department in Post Falls, said there were 119 job openings between the three counties, down substantially from November when there were 265.

Of those job openings, 20 percent were jobs in the health care industry, followed by manufacturing and temporary jobs with various companies.

Body said initial claims went down in all three counties.

"People may be thinking, 'How can the unemployment rate drop when it still feels like there are even fewer jobs?'" Body said.

One contributing factor is that people are working in different areas, but still have residency here, she said. So they are counted as being employed and are reflected in the area's job numbers.

"We are still seeing increases in unemployment in Kootenai County, but at a lesser rate," Body said.

Benewah and Shoshone counties experienced decreases in unemployment as some people took jobs in other areas, she said.

Statewide, 24 mostly rural Idaho counties saw seasonally adjusted unemployment rates decline from November to December. But nearly all of them also posted losses in their local labor forces, suggesting workers leaving the areas or simply stopping their search for work.

For Idaho, December's unemployment rate rose a tenth to 9.5 percent in December, and for the first time in more than nine years eclipsed the national rate, which dropped four-tenths of a percentage point to 9.4 percent.