Idaho unemployment rate edges up to 2.9 percent in October

unemployment

A surge in the number of Idahoans working or looking for work in October increased the pool of available workers for employment and pushed the state’s jobless rate up to 2.9 percent.

While the one-tenth of a percentage point increase in unemployment was the first hike in eight years, the addition of 4,000 people to the labor force was one of the largest monthly increases on record and helped move the state’s labor force participation rate up to over 63 percent.  Job growth in six industry sectors – construction; trade and transportation; financial activities; education and health; leisure and hospitality; and other services – beat five-year average expectations.

Natural resources; manufacturing; and information met seasonal expectations with no net change in jobs, while only two sectors lost jobs – professional and business services; and government.

The October unemployment rate for Nez Perce County was 2.8 percent; Latah County 2.5 percent; Lewis County 5.2 percent; Idaho County 4.7 percent; and Clearwater County 5.7 percent.  (Idaho Department of Labor)

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