State job growth 6th in nation

BOISE – Idaho’s job growth was sixth highest in the nation during the fourth quarter of 2004, according to the latest analysis compiled by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

Employment growth in the state was almost twice the U.S. rate of 1.6 percent for the period.

The FDIC reported this week that employment in Idaho grew 3 percent during the final three months of the year, trailing only Nevada (6.5 percent), Arizona (3.9 percent), Florida (3.8 percent), Montana (3.6 percent) and Hawaii (3.2 percent).

It was Idaho’s best fourth-quarter performance since the last three months of 2000, when employment grew at a rate of 3.4 percent. It also was a dramatic increase over Idaho’s 0.4 percent growth rate in the third quarter of 2004.

“It was a pretty solid period in Idaho,” said the state’s chief economist, Mike Ferguson. “And we continue to do well.”

But many of the new jobs created in Idaho have been in the service industry, which often doesn’t pay as well as manufacturing jobs or offer employee benefits. And the report said Idaho’s strong construction job growth could be hindered by rising interest rates.

Much of the state’s job creation for the quarter centered on the Boise area, where employment grew by 4 percent, the report said.

Judy Plock, FDIC acting regional manager for the San Francisco region that includes Idaho, said 4,000 new high-tech jobs were created in the state last year. But half of those new jobs were contract workers provided to technology businesses by outside employment agencies. Those jobs do not offer workers company-sponsored benefits.

Idaho’s high-tech manufacturing sector is about to take a serious blow following news last week that Hewlett-Packard has begun issuing an undisclosed number of voluntary severance packages to workers. Ferguson said the loss of H-P jobs may be offset by a likely expansion at chain grocer Albertson’s, where company officials are expected to take advantage of an economic incentive package pushed through the Legislature by Gov. Dirk Kempthorne. Another boost could come if Micron Technology decides to bring a new manufacturing plant to Boise.

“We’re going to have to let the dust settle so that we can see where things actually stand,” Ferguson said.