Idaho unemployment holds steady at 8.8 percent

Idaho’s unemployment rate held steady in August at 8.8 percent, as 3,200 workers dropped out of the labor force, the state Department of Labor said today. Employers have cut more than 48,000 jobs in the past year, the agency reported. The number of Idahoans with jobs fell to 685,000 for the first time since January 2005. Job losses were reported in all professions except private education and health care. Manufacturing jobs have receded to 1992 levels, and construction was at the lowest job total since 1998. At 10 percent, Coeur d’Alene’s metropolitan area has the highest unemployment rate of any metro area in Idaho. That’s up from 9.4 percent in July. Elsewhere in North Idaho, the jobless rate has hit: •10.5 percent in Bonner County, up from 9.6 percent. •12.5 percent in Boundary County, up from11.5 percent. •14.2 percent in Shoshone County, up from 12.6 percent. •15.1 percent in Benewah County, up from 11.4 percent.