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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Idaho’s jobless rate holds steady at 9.4%

Associated Press
BOISE — The state’s unemployment rate held steady at 9.4 percent for the third straight month as Idaho employers remained cautious in July. Kootenai County’s unemployment rate remained at 11.7 percent last month, the Idaho Department of Labor said in a report today. In Shoshone County, the jobless rate jumped to 15.8 percent in July, up from 14.7 percent in June. The rate also climbed in Bonner, Boundary and Benewah counties. Statewide, 21 counties reported a lower unemployment rate last month compared to June. The jobless rate worsened in Idaho’s remaining 23 counties. Idaho’s unemployment rate hasn’t budged since May. The state says more than 27,000 unemployed workers collected more than $26.6 million in jobless benefits in July, which is down from June when more than 30,000 collected $28.8 million in benefits. But more jobless workers exhausted all their benefits and were still without work in July, compared to the previous month. Nearly 11,000 fell into this category in July, up from about 10,600 in June.