I’m tired of hearing all of the optimists bragging about how Boise is doing so well and not reflecting the trends of the rest of the country. If you’ve spent anytime looking for current job postings that pay more than minimum wage, you’ll notice the well is pretty dry. Ironically the source of hearing how well Boise is doing just posted an article on it.
http://www.ktvb.com/news/localnews/stories/ktvbn-aug0108-idaho_unemployment.55b4c9c.html
“Idaho unemployment tops 4 percent
03:59 PM MDT on Friday, August 1, 2008
BOISE — Idaho’s unemployment rate jumped another three-tenths of a point in July, hitting 4.1 percent. That ends a 37-month string of rates under 4 percent, the Idaho Department of Labor reported Friday.
A sluggish construction industry and further job erosion in high technology continued to push the jobless rate higher. The problem was compounded by young people looking summer jobs but not finding them.
Total employment across the state fell another 1,800 from June to 722,000, while the number of workers off the job rose 2,400 to just over 31,000, the highest number of unemployed Idaho workers since October 2004. Unemployment has risen by 10,000 people since the year began. The three-tenths of an increase is the largest June-to-July increase on record.
The decline in people working in Idaho has been steady since the year began with nearly 16,000 fewer people at work in July than in January.
Nationally, unemployment increased two-tenths of a percentage point to 5.7 percent, the highest rate since March 2004 and a full percentage point over July 2007.
During the past 12 months, construction and manufacturing have shed nearly 9,000 jobs as the housing boom burst and Micron Technology and several timber mills imposed layoffs. The combination rippled through other parts of the economy including retail sales and restaurants.
Of the 14,100 people no longer working in Idaho this July compared to last July, two thirds or over 9,200 were in the Boise area, which includes Canyon, Boise, Gem and Owyhee counties.
The jump in unemployment from June to July was felt in nearly every corner of the state — only Blaine, Payette, Power and Teton counties posted lower unemployment rates in July than in June. “
2 Comments
August 3, 2008 at 12:05 pm
There are still thousands of high paying jobs posted on Employment sites –
http://www.realmatch.com
http://www.indeed.com
http://www.monster.com
If you want a job, there is a job for you.
August 3, 2008 at 2:16 pm
Not in this area there isn’t.