Kootenai jobless rate drops

POST FALLS - Kootenai County's unemployment rate dropped three-tenths of a percent to 5 percent in August, according to a report released Friday by the Idaho Department of Labor.

The rate was 6.7 percent last year at this time.

"The drop (from July) was attributed to a decline in the labor force, which is historically typical from July to August," said Alivia Metts, Labor regional economist. "The drop in the labor force continues to be something we are keeping our eye on."

Idaho's jobless rate dropped a tenth of a percent to 4.7 in August, while the nation's number decreased by the same margin to 6.1.

"The lower state unemployment rate was a result of more than 600 workers leaving the labor force," the report states.

The jobless rate in Coeur d'Alene fell two-tenths to 4.8 percent, while Post Falls dropped a tenth to 5.1.

According to Wanted Analytics, there were about 2,100 job openings in Kootenai County in August - nearly 1,000 of them listed through the Labor department. Many of the job openings were through temporary agencies and with call centers and health care, Metts said.

Statewide, businesses hired 18,600 workers during August - almost all to fill existing job vacancies - while new hires remained below August 2013 levels, according to the report.

Idaho's labor force participation rate for August - the percentage of adults working or actively looking for work - dropped another tenth of a percentage point to 63.5 percent. It was more than 64 percent a year ago.

"Of the 1,500 new jobs employers added in August, mining, logging and construction all generated slightly more jobs than usual, as did financial services, business services and restaurants," the report stated.

That pushed total non-farm jobs to more than 664,000, almost 15,000 more than August 2013 and 54,000 above the low point in August 2010, but it was still 1,100 short of the pre-recession August peak in 2007. The economy had another 77,000 jobs in August 2014 which were not covered by unemployment insurance. Those included tens of thousands of self-employed people.

"While the August job gains were almost evenly split between goods production and services, Idaho's economy has been steadily shifting to services," the report states.

In August 2007 as the expansion was peaking, 19.2 percent of Idaho's non-farm jobs were in goods production, which pays an average of $12,000 a year more than services. In August 2014, 15.8 percent of the jobs were in goods production.