The nationwide U.S. unemployment rate is currently at 5.0%.
For Boundary County, the October 2015 unemployment rate is 5.1%. This rate has gone down 0.1% from September's 5.2% rate, and compares to 5.5% one year ago in October 2014. In Boundary County, the current 5.1% unemployment rate represents 257 people out of work among a total labor force of 5,063, according to Idaho Department of Labor figures.
In other nearby counties: Bonner County's most recent October 2015 unemployment rate is 5.7%, while Kootenai County's rate is 4.8%.
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The highest unemployment rate in the state is found in Adams County at 9.1%. Adams County, whose county seat is Council, is located on the western edge of the state in the central portion of Idaho. The best unemployment numbers in Idaho are in Gooding County, located in southwest Idaho, where 2.6% are unemployed.
October 2015 job growth for the state of Idaho is the strongest of any October in the past decade, as 1,000 unemployed workers got jobs, along with 1,800 people who joined the labor force.
In other positive economic news for Idaho, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics recently released data showing Idaho had the largest percent increase in employment of all states in the nation in the one year period from October 2014 to October 2015. Idaho's employment increase for that period was a nation-leading 3.8 percent, followed by Utah at 3.5%.
Looking at cities in Idaho, October unemployment rates for almost all of Idaho’s Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) were below the state average except for the Coeur d’Alene MSA at 4.8 percent. The Boise MSA was 3.4 percent, down from 3.7 percent in September. The Idaho Falls MSA fell from 3.6 percent to 3.3 percent – maintaining the lowest unemployment rate of Idaho MSAs.
For more details on Idaho's unemployment picture, visit lmi.Idaho.gov.
For some great visual and graphic summations of the Idaho unemployment data, see an Idaho Department of Labor webpage at this location: http://labor.idaho.gov/publications/econsitrep.pdf
