North Idaho Unemployment Declines

Fair March weather helped push down in North Idaho unemployment last month as sunny skies allowed more construction and logging.

Unemployment in Kootenai County dropped to 6.5 percent from 7.8 percent in February, which returned the rate close to March 1993’s 6.6 percent.

Weather-dependent building and logging jobs warmed to the good weather, said Kathryn Tacke, labor analyst with the Idaho Department of Employment.

Both those sectors are especially susceptible to layoffs during March, she said. Far fewer construction and logging layoffs helped the Panhandle region unemployment drop to 7.2 percent from 8.5 percent in February.

The long-term trend for North Idaho shows unemployment remaining flat, Tacke said, though still above the national and Idaho rates.

Idaho’s statewide unemployment rate fell to 5.1 percent in March from 5.8 percent in February. Sunshine and dry conditions allowed field preparation and spring planting to get underway, said Dwight Johnson of the employment department in Boise.

A good snowpack ensures plenty of water for agriculture and recreational employment as the year progresses, Johnson said in a release.

Rates for other Panhandle counties in March compared with February: Benewah fell to 9 percent from 11.3 percent; Bonner fell to 7.8 percent from 8.9 percent; Boundary fell to 7.8 percent from 8.9 percent; Shoshone fell to 8.6 percent from 10.7 percent.