Idaho Falls job growth leads the nation

IDAHO FALLS, Idaho (KIFI/KIDK) - Idaho Falls' regional economy led the nation in over-the-year job gains, according to the Idaho Department of Labor.

Over the year, non-farm jobs for the Idaho Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) increased 4.8%. That was the fastest growth rate of any MSA in the nation. All five of Idaho's MSA's experienced job growth gains of 1.5% or higher. The only outlier was the Pocatello MSA, which declined by .8%.

Annually, unemployment insurance benefit payments were down 5.3%, from a weekly average of $1,992,500 a year ago to $1,886,000 a week in December 2019. The number of people making claims decreased by 9.2% to a weekly average of 5,783.

Idaho's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate remained at 2.9% in December. The state's seasonally adjusted labor force grew to 889,092, while the number of unemployed fell by 110 people to 25,769.

Idaho's labor force participation rate, which is the percentage of people age 16 or older working or looking for work, moved up slightly to 64.2%.