Good News/Bad News for Kootenai Co.

COEUR d’ALENE - D. Patrick Jones had some good news and some bad about Kootenai County’s economy, and more still that was open to perspective.

Like how the county’s average annual wage in 2011 was $32,647, roughly $3,000 below state and national averages.

Bad news? Maybe not.

“When you have lower wages, you’re going to recruit businesses looking for that workforce,” said Jones, executive director at the Institute for Public Policy and Economic Analysis at Eastern Washington University. “(The workforce) doesn’t get paid a lot, but businesses might hire more people.”

Also, county residents living below the federal poverty level ranged from 9.4 percent to 14.6 percent between 2000 and 2010, mostly below state and federal benchmarks.

“You might be low income, but a lot of people are low income,” Jones said, addressing the crowd at the Coeur d’Alene Chamber of Commerce’s Upbeat Breakfast at The Coeur d’Alene Resort on Tuesday. More here. Alecia Warren, Cda Press

Do you read Jones’s report as good news, bad news or mixed?