Jobless report a mixed bag
POST FALLS - The local job scene resembles many of these spring days: partly sunny, partly cloudy.
Kootenai County's unemployment rate dropped to 6.3 percent in January, the lowest it has been in five and a half years, according to a report released Friday by the Idaho Department of Labor.
February's preliminary jobless rate, also released in the report, is 6.4 percent.
But the county's largest cities also have some of the highest rates among metro areas in the state.
Post Falls, at 6.8 percent in February, and Coeur d'Alene, 5.7, are second and third out of the 11 large cities. They only trail Caldwell at 6.9 percent.
Generally, a full percentage point doesn't separate the local cities.
"Some of the businesses in Post Falls are more volatile," said Alivia Metts, Idaho DOL's regional economist, referring to the separation.
Kootenai County's rate has hovered at 6.5 percent for the past seven months, but Metts said she doesn't believe the number has bottomed out.
"I think the rate will continue to drop - albeit at a slow rate," Metts said. "We're going to see some nominal ticks up and down, but overall, I think, it will continue downward at a slow rate. Part of the reason is employment growth will be slow.
"My hope is that it won't drop due to the labor force slowly dropping, but rather slow employment growth."
Metts said she expects a strong construction season, but those numbers won't be reflected in employment.
"The trend has been through this recovery that construction crews are doing more with less," she said.
Alliance Data, a firm that manages more than 130 private label and co-brand credit card programs, plans to hire at least 200 people this year. The constant flow of health care jobs available is another reason to be optimistic, Metts said.
Because of the early spring weather, Metts said seasonal job openings have been starting sooner than normal.
"But the spring breakup also stifled logging operations around the region," she said.
Most of the job openings have been in arts, entertainment and recreation as Silverwood Theme Park has started hiring for the season. The nonseasonal jobs came with health care positions.
"Health care remains the top industry for growth and will likely remain the top-employing industry as a result of the influx of retirees," Metts said.
Meanwhile, Idaho's unemployment rate dropped another tenth of a percentage point in February to 5.3 percent, the lowest rate in five and a half years.
The decline, following a two-tenths of a point drop in January, came as the labor force participation rate - the percentage of the population 16 and older working or actively looking for work - fell a tenth of a percentage point to 63.7 percent.
Idaho's participation rate dropped just below 64 percent last October - the first time in over 30 years - and has been gradually sliding since. That's likely a reflection of the influx of retirees, labor analysts say.
The nation's rate rose a tenth in February to 6.7 percent. Idaho's rate has been below the national rate for more than 12 years.