With the winding down of the harvest, construction and tourism seasons in Idaho, the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate moved upward in October to 2.5 percent.
Despite the modest increase in unemployment, Idaho 's economy remained one of the strongest in the nation. The state posted the lowest unemployment rates in the country in May, July, August and September.
In Blaine County, according to the Idaho Department of Labor, the civilian work force is 14,251, with 291 unemployed in October. This makes Blaine County's 2 percent unemployment rate 0.5 percent less than the state average.
Last year at this time, there were an estimated 361 unemployed out of a civilian work force of 15,081.
In Blaine County, employment numbers sometimes fluctuate in reaction to influxes of seasonal employees.
For instance, division managers and office staff continue working at Webb Landscaping throughout the year, but out of 170 peak-season employees, some 100 or so are laid off at this time but remain job-attached. While they are eligible for unemployment, they may be recalled to work.
"They do get unemployment and if it's a good snow year they do snow removal," said Brandy Holman, Webb's human resources technician. "We have a lot of employees to help with Christmas trees, delivering and lighting. One of the stipulations of being job-attached is they have to be able to work. They also can keep employee benefits."
Those who are job attached are not required to contact other employers or register for work, while receiving unemployment.
At Atkinsons' Market, which has stores in Bellevue, Hailey and Ketchum, it's a different kind of change.
"We have attrition from seasonal employees, college kids, and some people that Sun Valley bring in, but our main workforce is steady," said Whit Atkinson. "We have a very consistent base. We never lay them off."
Neither does another large employer, St. Luke's Wood River Medical Center, which has increased its staff by about 20 employees.
The bulk of October's decline came in recreation, hotels and restaurants. Higher employment in public education offset a decline from September in construction, where commercial projects are not completely filling the gap created by a decline in home building.
A decline of 3,400 in the statewide labor pool and a drop of 4,800 from September's record employment reflected seasonal patterns.
Much of the rise in unemployment appeared to be in rural Idaho, said Bob Fick, of the Idaho Department of Labor. The state's nine major cities—Boise, Nampa, Caldwell, Meridian, Coeur d'Alene, Lewiston, Twin Falls, Pocatello and Idaho Falls—all posted significant reductions in unemployment rates, leaving all of them with unemployment rates at or below 1.5 percent. At the same time, 32 of the state's 44 counties posted higher jobless rates from September.
Nationally, unemployment remained unchanged at 4.7 percent.
