Business in brief: New jobs mostly in service sector
Retailers, hotels and food services accounted for about 40 percent of Idaho’s new jobs during the second quarter, according to the state’s Department of Labor.
Other industries that gained jobs included public education, finance and real estate — all sectors that respond quickly to population growth, state officials noted.
Retail jobs were up nearly 6 percent from a year earlier, evidence of major retailers building stores in Idaho’s urban areas. Eighty percent of those new retail jobs were in the Boise, Coeur d’Alene/Post Falls, Idaho Falls and Pocatello metropolitan areas.
Missing from the growth list was construction, which has been a driving force behind Idaho’s dramatic growth over the past three years. Construction payrolls were down 1 percent from spring 2006 — a sign that the hot housing market is cooling and commercial construction is not completely filling the void, officials said.
Statewide, nonfarm jobs grew by 2.6 percent over the second quarter of 2006, according to the Department of Labor. The figure does not reflect the nearly 900 job cuts announced by Micron’s restructuring in Boise.
While Idaho’s year-to-year growth rate ranks sixth in the nation, it was much lower than the 5.1 percent job growth the state experienced during the second quarter of 2006.
Olympia
Commission OKs phone price hike
The Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission has conditionally accepted an agreement relaxing regulations on Qwest Communications’ residential phone services and prices for four years.
The deal would allow Denver-based Qwest, the largest telephone company in Washington, to increase the monthly rate for home phone service by as much as $1 during that time. Customers pay $12.50 monthly for basic phone service, plus tax — an amount unchanged since 1998, according to a commission news release.
Qwest also would no longer be required to give customers one free directory-assistance call each month, and the company may change prices of “non-essential features,” including caller ID, call waiting and voicemail, according to the release.
“We received the order late Tuesday and appreciate the commission’s recognition of the state’s highly-competitive environment; we are now in the process of evaluating the full order,” Qwest said in a prepared statement. A Portland-based Qwest spokesman declined to elaborate Wednesday.
Spokane
Spokane radio show expands
An Eastern Washington man’s business radio show, carried in Spokane on KGA-AM, has expanded to five other cities.
The weekly show, hosted by Spokane business veteran Paul Wham, has been added by AM stations in Hamilton and Missoula, Mont; in Port Angeles, in Kennewick and in Eugene, Ore.
Wham, who’s worked for or helped start several regional businesses, answers questions e-mailed by listeners. His KGA show airs from 8 to 9 a.m. on Saturday. He has a Web site at http://paulwhaminc.com.