Bad Weather Increases Unemployment Rates Logging, Construction Jobs Hurt By March Weather

Panhandle unemployment rates shot upward in March compared to February and a year earlier, thanks mostly to the heavy snow that chilled job activity.

The five-county rate rose to 9.8 percent in March from 8.9 percent in February. That compares with 8.5 percent in March 1996.

The rates are nearly twice that of Idaho’s statewide average of 5.4 percent and the nation’s 5.2 percent rate.

For Kootenai County, the rise to 9.5 percent from 8.7 percent last month is significant. The county’s unemployment rate in March 1996 was only 8 percent.

Bad weather has left logging roads impassable and will likely do so for much of the spring, said Kathryn Tacke, analyst for the Idaho Department of Labor.

Those conditions, plus an outbreak of short-term layoffs at local lumber mills, hurt the wood products area of the economy.

The numbers from the Idaho Department of Labor are seasonally adjusted, meaning that typical swings in employment are factored in.

Tacke believes a long spring break-up could continue to dampen the lumber business, which in turn could keep rates high until June.

In lumber-dependent Benewah County, the rate skyrocketed to 11 percent from 8.6 percent last month. However, in a county with as few people as Benewah, wild swings in even seasonally adjusted unemployment are not uncommon.

Transportation difficulties in Boundary County - caused mostly by large landslides from the spring thaw - helped push that county’s unemployment rate to 9.5 percent from 7.5 percent in February.

The bad weather hurt construction employment and agriculture in March, Tacke said. Fears of a weakening construction economy in the region, especially in Kootenai County, have led some economic watchers to predict a slowdown.

On the positive side, the opening of the new Fred Meyer store in Coeur d’Alene will add more than 200 jobs. A new Ameritel Hotel will also open soon, which will improve Kootenai County’s employment picture, Tacke said.

, DataTimes MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: UNEMPLOYMENT County March Feb. Benewah 11.0% 8.6% Bonner 10.0 9.0 Boundary 9.5 7.5 Kootenai 9.5 8.7 Shoshone 12.0 10.9 Panhandle 9.8% 8.9% Idaho 5.4 5.2 Nation 5.2 5.3