Idaho jobless rate ticks up in July

Idaho’s unemployment rate notched up two-tenths of a percent in July to 6.6 percent, though it was well below the previous July’s rate of 7.2 percent.  Six of Idaho’s 44 counties posted double-digit unemployment rates: Adams, Benewah, Clearwater, Lemhi, Shoshone and Valley; a year earlier, 10 Idaho counties hit that mark.

The Idaho Department of Labor reported that hiring levels slipped below normal in July and seasonal government layoffs ran slightly higher, driving up the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate, which now has risen for three straight months, for a rise of half a percentage point since April.

Ada County posted a 5.7 percent unemployment rate in July, down from 6.4 percent a year earlier; Kootenai County, 7.4%, down from 9.4% a year earlier; and Bonneville was at 5.6%, down from 6.1 percent in July 2012. You can read Labor’s full announcement here , and see by-county chart here .