Coeur d'Alene second in nation for job growth in 2015

Idaho is the fastest-growing state in over-the-year job growth in the nation, and Kootenai County is no slouch.

Idaho's 4.4 percent over-the-year growth of non-farm jobs in December was the third consecutive month Idaho held the distinction, according to a report released Friday by the Idaho Department of Labor.

Over-the-year growth refers to the addition of jobs throughout the year.

"Obviously states like California and Texas add more jobs in terms of raw numbers, but for the size of Idaho's overall economy, we have the fastest growth rate in terms of total employment," said Sam Wolkenhaur, northern regional economist for the Idaho Department of Labor.

As of December 2015, the unemployment rate in Kootenai County was 4.8 percent, down from 7.2 percent in December 2014, and of all the Metropolitan Statistical Areas — urban areas — Coeur d'Alene in particular had the second-strongest over-the-year job growth in the country, Wolkenhaur said.

"That kind of gives you a picture of how strong the job growth has been, that we are down over 2 percentage points in a year, which is very strong," he said.

The 4.4 percent growth in jobs is the largest gain in Idaho since 2005. Idaho added a seasonally adjusted increase of 29,100 jobs from December 2014 to December 2015. Construction, manufacturing and real estate saw the largest increase in jobs. Mining, logging, information and state government were the only sectors to show a decline in jobs.

The unemployment rate in Idaho is at 3.9 percent, down from 6.2 percent in 2014 and below the national average, which is holding steady at 5 percent.

According to the report, December's total employment rate in Idaho was 774,543 people, with 31,460 unemployed people looking for work — only 1.2 unemployed individuals per job listing. In December of 2014, 727,230 people were employed, leaving 48,177 people seeking employment.