Our Northwest Economy

Idaho Jobless Rate Falls For Third Consecutive Month

Idaho's unemployment rate has fallen for the third consecutive month. The May jobless rate was down slightly to an even 9 percent.

Labor Department spokesman Bob Fick says the Gem State is in the midst of a slow, steady economic recovery. He says most industries are starting to see job growth, with rural areas leading the way.

Bob Fick: “Boise is recovering much more slowly and the other metro areas, to a certain extent, are in the same boat. Consequently, its sluggishness is dragging down the overall recovery of the state.”

The unemployment rates in Boise and Coeur d'Alene are hovering around 10 percent, the highest of Idaho's urban areas.

Fick says Labor Department analysts expect the state's slow growth to continue through the summer.


Copyright 2010 Northwest News Network

Washington's Jobess Rate Falls For First Time In Three Years

Washington jobless falls first time in three-plus years. Washington employers added 5,800 new jobs in April, lowering the state's unemployment rate for the first time in more than three years. Unemployment statewide fell to 9.2 percent from 9.5 percent reported in March.

Listen Here

Washington, Oregon jobless pictures improve

Washington employers added 58-hundred new jobs in April, lowering the state's unemployment rate for the first time in more than three years. The Oregon jobless rate held steady at 10-point-six percent, the same as in March, making it six straight months without any significant change. But that was still nearly a point less than April 2009, when the rate was 11.5 percent.

Oregon Unemployment Rate Stuck at 10.6 Percent

The Oregon employment department released job data for April today/ yesterday [Tuesday]. As Amelia Templeton of OPB reports, unemployment in the state is still stuck at 10 and a half percent.

LIsten Here

Idaho Jobless Rate Drops For Second Consecutive Month

Idaho's unemployment rate made its largest one month fall in more than a quarter century. The three-tenths of one percent decline in April puts the jobless rate at 9.1 [nine-point-one] percent. That's the lowest in the Northwest…and it's Idaho's second monthly decrease in a row.
Bob Fick from the state Labor Department says employers aren't hiring in large numbers. But he says temporary agencies are getting busier.
He says employment growth this spring almost looks normal.

Bob Fick: “The fact that we're back to the norm is probably a really good sign. I mean, people need to understand, though, that it is going to take awhile to go from 69,000 unemployed back to 16 or 17,000, or 20,000.”

Fick says the unemployment rates in Boise and Coeur d'Alene have fallen back into single digits. He says some rural counties with the highest unemployment rates are also seeing economic growth.


Copyright 2010 Northwest News Network

Wash. Governor Signs Law Ordering State Furloughs

OLYMPIA, Wash. – It will be lights out at the Washington governor's office, drivers' license offices and other state agencies on Monday, July 12th. That's because of legislation signed [today] Tuesday by Governor Chris Gregoire. But under the new furlough law, many other Washington state services will remain open that day. The legislation requires a series of furloughs, but also includes many exceptions. At the least, Gregoire hopes state employees and their unions agree to take the same day off each month.

Listen Here

Washington State & Oregon Sees First Job Growth In Over A Year

OLYMPIA, Wash. – Washington and Oregon companies added more jobs than they cut in January. Washington Governor Chris Gregoire takes the positive jobs numbers as a sign the economy is on the rebound.

Oregon Adds Jobs, Unemployment Rate Remains Flat

Oregon's unemployment rate was essentially unchanged in January -- at 10.7 percent.
As Kristian Foden-Vencil reports, it's been hanging in the high 10 percent range for four months now, showing that economists were correct to predict a slow rebound.

While 10.7 percent is high, most of the major industries preformed in line with typical seasonal patterns in January. Compared to last year, when there was talk of a second great depression, a return to a predictable pattern is welcome news. State economist David Cooke says while the unemployment rate remained unchanged, there was a tiny increase of 1,100 jobs.

David Cooke: "This was the first seasonally adjusted monthly job gain since February 2008."

The state also released revised figures for the whole of 2009. They showed that unemployment peaked a little lower than first reported, at 11.6 percent instead of 12.2. [Krisitan Foden-Vencil, OPB News.]

University of Idaho Implements Employee Furloughs

University of Idaho officials [today] Tuesday announced that they're requiring 26-hundred of the Moscow-based school's employees to take furlough time this spring. The goal is to save one-point-two million dollars.

Keith Ickes [ICK-us] is the university's executive director of planning and budget. He says higher salaried employees will take more time away, or instead, give up an equivalent amount of their pay. He says some of the lowest-paid employees will be exempt.

Listen Here

Lawmakers Debate Online Schools

SALEM, Ore. – Students of online schools in Oregon are in limbo. The future of virtual schools -- as they are known -- is one of the most contentious issues in the Oregon legislature. The question is how should the state oversee school districts that span hundred of miles and exist largely in cyberspace. The issue proved too thorny for lawmakers last year, so they turned it over to a task force. This month, that group is asking the Legislature to have the state Board of Education hash out the details. As Salem Correspondent Chris Lehman found, that means students don't know if they'll be able to continue with their online studies.

Listen Here