Given the high proportion of construction jobs that existed in Blaine County during the real estate boom, it's little wonder that the unemployment rate nearly tripled during the past year as the economy entered its downward slide.
According to statistics from the U.S. Census Bureau and the Idaho Department of Labor, the county's unemployment rate jumped to 5.5 percent in December, compared to a mere 2 percent for the same month one year previous. With a workforce of about 15,000, the county therefore has more than 800 people without jobs.
In a breakdown of employment by industry for the third quarter of 2008, construction comprised nearly 18 percent of the entire workforce, second only to accommodation and food service at 18.5 percent.
In addition, Jan Roeser, regional economist for the Idaho Department of Labor, said in a telephone interview that the actual number of construction workers could be even higher.
"Some workers may only spend a percentage of their time (in Blaine County), so they are not tracked by our system as Blaine County workers," he said.
If that's true, there may be hundreds of construction workers among the ranks of the unemployed.
Millie Gaitán-Gonzalez, executive director of the nonprofit La Alianza Multicultural Center in Hailey, said that over a 14-day period, about 50 unemployed people stopped by her office seeking help.
"Some people are in desperate positions," Gaitán-Gonzalez said. "Winters in Idaho are very hard without work and even more so if you have children."
Gaitán-Gonzalez noted that immediately following the snowstorms in late December, there was some work available, but that the last few weeks have created a tough situation.
"It's become very busy at the center," she said. "Some of the nonprofit service providers are panicking a little bit because the solutions are not easy to find."
Gaitán-Gonzalez said food donations are down from last month and that people are doing what they can to get by until the economy picks up.
To that end, she said, she's noticed more people are just renting rooms rather than apartments, and that some landlords are letting tenants work off some of their rent with property maintenance.
Construction worker Carlos Garcia, currently helping frame a house in West Ketchum, said that for some the only solution is to hunt for work well outside of the valley.
"Much of the Mexican workforce is leaving the area and looking for work where the cost of living isn't as high," Garcia said.
He said that recently two construction workers new to the area came to the site looking for work, but after finding none said they were likely going to head to Nevada or Texas to continue their search.
The downturn has also hit longtime residents such as Curtis Uhrig, who, working alongside Garcia, said that in his 33 years of building in the valley he's never had as much trouble finding work.
In a press release on Thursday, the Associated General Contractors of America noted a possible bright spot on the horizon in the form of federally funded infrastructure investment. With President Barack Obama proposing a $825 billion economic stimulus package, the association wrote that such an infusion could translate into 620,000 construction jobs nationwide, not including the related jobs needed to supply those projects.
How much of that money will make its way to Blaine County remains to be seen, but it's clear that for many workers in the Wood River Valley it can't come soon enough.
Jon Duval: jduval@mtexpress.com
While helping frame a house in West Ketchum, Carlos Garcia said many fellow construction workers are heading out of the Wood River Valley to look for jobs. He said the cost of living makes it difficult to remain in the valley while unemployed. Photo by Willy Cook
