What could low unemployment rates mean for employers
Eastern Idaho is seeing more jobs but not enough people to fill them. A new report released by the Idaho Department of Labor shows unemployment continues a nine-month streak of 3 percent or lower in unemployment, with the state staying at 2.9 percent for the month of May.
Some cities in Eastern Idaho are even lower. Pocatello has a 2.8 percent unemployment rate, while Idaho Falls is at 2.5 percent and Rexburg sits at 1.7 percent.
Economists call this a “job seekers market.” Meaning, if someone is looking for employment, they have a lot of options.
The Idaho Department of Labor says this “job seekers market” could be affecting local employers in a negative way.
“The employers, they put out a job posting and they’ll wait and wait and wait, then maybe get a couple applicants and they may not even be the type of applicants that they want,” said Hope Morrow, regional labor economist.
Job fields in education, trade or medical are struggling the most.
“A lot of these jobs are a lot of high-skilled jobs,” Morrow said. “Its kind of a long-term process to get people educated and the right skill set to perform these positions.”
With national unemployment at 3.9 percent, why is the state and Eastern Idaho significantly lower?
“Idaho is a great place to do business,” Morrow said. “A lot of businesses here have relocated here since and they are growing.”
What economists say helps entice people to apply for these jobs are higher wages and developing culture models.
“What they can do to make the workplace more fun or more inviting for a specific subset of the workforce,” explains Morrow. “As well as new benefits packages, different ways of looking at bonuses and that kind of stuff.”
The Department of Labor says the summertime sees students out of school and retirees come out of retirement to help fill open positions. However, the rate of high school-aged students working has dropped over the years due to summer courses and other co-curricular activities.
In the past year, there were about 87,000 jobs posted in the Idaho Falls metropolitan area. Of those, 22,000 were unique job postings, according to the Idaho Department of Labor.
