No Cutbacks, State Jobs Office Told Cda Office Gets National Award, Sense Of Relief

North Idaho’s Job Service offices won’t be downsized in the near future, Idaho Labor Department Director Roger Madsen said Monday.

Madsen, one of the more prominent administrators in Gov. Phil Batt’s administration, came to the Job Service office on Ironwood Drive to present the staff with a national award for providing benefits to disabled veterans.

While the Department of Labor, formerly the Idaho Department of Employment, had to cut 30 people last year, most of those losses came in southern Idaho. Madsen said no more cuts are scheduled for the near future.

“We will continue to be on a tight budget here,” he said. “I don’t anticipate that you’ll lose any more people.”

North Idaho historically has had higher unemployment than the southern part of the state.

The Panhandle rate for August was 8.4 percent compared to 4.9 percent statewide.

A pilot program for the department in St. Maries has created computer systems there where people can file unemployment claims and search for jobs. New computers will be up and running at the Coeur d’Alene office by November to let more job-seekers go on the Internet to find work, said Lee Fields, who manages the job service offices in the region.

The move toward automated claims systems and less paperwork will continue, Madsen said. A new system that allows unemployment claims to be filed on the phone has proved successful, he said. He hopes to have at least 55 percent of those wanting claims to use the system.

The award for helping disabled veterans came from the work of Bernie Fox and Bob Harris. The two held town meetings and piloted new projects to help veterans get training and education.

They also made sure that the disabled veterans received all the assistance that various government programs allowed.

, DataTimes