Employment situation improves from year ago

What a difference a year has made with local unemployment numbers.

The Coeur d'Alene metro area led all other metro areas in the state in total nonfarm employment year-over-year percentage growth, said Alivia Metts, economist of the Idaho Department of Labor's Post Falls office.

From July 2012 to July 2013, total nonfarm employment grew 4.3 percent - the largest over-the-year rate of growth since September 2006 and marking the third consecutive month of seeing positive year-over-year growth.

"Much of the growth was contributed by the leisure and hospitality industry," Metts said.

Meanwhile, Kootenai County's jobless rate inched downward to 7.4 percent in July from 7.5 percent in June, according to an IDL report released on Friday. The county's rate, which has been in the 7 percent range since April, is 2 percent lower than a year ago at this time.

Benewah County's rate increased from 10.7 percent in June to 11 percent in July. It is one of six counties in the state with double-digit unemployment.

The state's rate increased from 6.4 percent in June to 6.6 percent in July. Hiring slipped below normal in July and seasonal government layoffs ran slightly higher, driving the rate up, state officials said.

The nation's mark decrease from 7.6 percent in June to 7.4 percent in July.

Idaho's rate has been lower than the nation's for 142 months - almost 12 years.

July was the third straight monthly increase in Idaho's rate, which has risen a half percentage point since April. The number of workers without jobs rose more than 1,600 from June to July, exceeding 50,000 for the first time since last November.

Total employment dropped for the second month in a row, falling 800 to just over 723,000 - the lowest total employment since October 2012.

While employment remained 5,700 ahead of July 2012, the year-over-year gap has been steadily shrinking for the past 13 months. A slight dip in typical employer hiring in nearly all sectors during July aggravated the moderate increase in the number of people looking for work, causing the second straight two-tenths percentage point increase in the jobless rate. The rate was 7.2 percent a year earlier.

With labor force, employment and unemployment totals essentially the same as they were seven or eight months ago, department analysts believe employers still seem to be concerned about the future of the state - and national - economies.

New hiring during the month approached 23,500, the highest July level since before the recession began, primarily to replace workers who left jobs for retirement or other work. That resulted in Idaho's nonfarm jobs running 2.7 percent ahead of July 2012, down a tenth of the 2.8 percent margin for June over June 2012.