Low Unemployment Rate In Southeast Idaho

Eastern Idaho is home to one of the lowest unemployment rates in the state.

City leaders say the area’s 6.5 percent unemployment rate is relatively low when compared with the state and national average. This year’s “Mayor’s Business Day” in Idaho Falls gave employers the opportunity to connect with community members on the job hunt and gave business leaders ideas on how to succeed while creating more job openings.

“We realize at the state level that our fastest source of new jobs is going to be helping our own existing companies grow and become more successful,” said Jeffery Sayer, Director of the Idaho Department of Commerce.

Members of Grow Idaho Falls say many businesses in the local area have been successful in recent years. In 2011, over 300 jobs were created in Idaho Falls and over 100 million dollars was invested within the city but there’s still room for improvement.

“We’re a bit off from where we were previously, about four years ago. In fact, we used to get calls saying that we had the lowest unemployment rates in the nation…we’ve been affected by the recession,” said Linda Martin, CEO of Grow Idaho Falls.

However, local economists say they predict the area’s unemployment to drop in the coming months.

“I think we’ll see a slow decline and hopefully by the end of the year we’ll see it in the upper five percent or somewhere around there,” said Will Jenson, regional economist for the Idaho Department of Labor.

Officials from the Idaho Department of Labor say that between 2010 and 2011, job creation in southeast Idaho increased by nearly 24 percent.