A region at work

Area economists are predicting the region will do about half as well this year in terms of job growth as it did in 2005.

And they say that’s great.

Such exuberance follows a year when Spokane and Kootenai counties together created more than 9,000 jobs.

The two counties have never before produced that many new jobs in a single year, economists say. In 2004 the two counties produced about 8,000 new jobs.

Job creation was steady all year long, keeping unemployment low and forcing many companies to search hard for skilled workers.

Leading the parade was Kootenai County’s powerhouse growth — 4,200 jobs created during 2005, or 7.5 percent job growth. That number will put Kootenai County among the top five U.S. cities in percentage job growth for 2005, said Kathryn Tacke, regional economist for Idaho’s Commerce and Labor Department.

“I think ‘robust’ is too pale a word to describe the growth we’ve had in Kootenai County,” said Tacke. She suggests “astounding” or “amazing” instead.

Spokane County had its own strong year of job growth, measuring 2.5 percent and creating about 5,200 new jobs during 2005, said Washington State Regional Labor Economist Jeff Zahir.

While data on wages wasn’t available for North Idaho, Spokane County wage earners in 2005 finally made gains versus inflation for the first time in four years.

Zahir said for most Spokane workers, wages rose 3.7 percent from the year before. Inflation during 2005 was roughly 2.2 percent.

Looking ahead, economists don’t see anything nearly as strong as the 2005 job market.

“I would be happy with half of what we saw in 2005,” said Zahir.

More likely than not, the construction sector — a bustling job producer the past two years — will see a slowdown in 2006, said Randy Barcus, chief economist for Avista Corp., the region’s largest power utility.

The job areas linked to housing, including real estate and financial services, should be stable but won’t grow during the coming year, said Barcus.

Barcus foresees positive growth in transportation and wholesale services.

Growth in those two sectors will follow a gradual increase in manufacturing that Barcus predicts for 2006. As area companies increase production of goods, jobs will have to increase among companies that transport and distribute those items, he said.

“Somebody has to get that stuff in and out of the community,” he said.

In Kootenai County the housing slowdown will have an uncertain impact, said Tacke.

“I thought we were going to see it slow down in 2005 and it didn’t. So I’m not going to say what will happen (within housing),” she said.

The growth sectors she’s betting on are health care and leisure-hospitality. Kootenai County’s health care industry gained about 420 jobs in 2005. She’s predicting even stronger growth of between 500 and 600 in 2006.

One source of that growth is expected to be the new $15 million Northern Idaho Advanced Care Hospital in Post Falls.

“We’ll also see a number of new assisted living centers coming online in this year,” Tacke said.

Leisure and hospitality is a broad sector that encompasses most of North Idaho’s tourism jobs. It had a large gain of 890 jobs in 2005. It may not be that large again, but Tacke still expects steady growth.

Two drivers will be Silverwood Theme Park, which expects to add a new thrill ride this year, and the Coeur d’Alene Casino, in Worley, Idaho.

A major upgrade at the tribal casino and resort will produce somewhere in the neighborhood of 150 new jobs, said tribal spokesman Bob Bostwick.