Idaho breaks April unemployment records

IDAHO FALLS, Idaho (KIFI/KIDK)-Idaho’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate increased 9 points in April from a record low 2.5% in March to 11.5%.    It was just one of many records set during the month.  The national unemployment rate for the month was 14.7%.

Non-farm payrolls lost 79,500 jobs because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The all-time record surpassed a 10.2% rate recorded in December 1982 and the Great Recession peak rate of 9.6% in June 2009.

April’s labor force participation rate – the percentage of people 16 years and older with jobs or looking for work – dropped from 64.2 percent to 63.9 percent, the largest over-the-month participation rate decline on record, and the lowest participation rate for Idaho since mid-2017.

All of Idaho’s Metropolitan Statistical Areas saw non-farm job declines.  Pocatello declined by -11.4% and Idaho Falls to -4.3%, the smallest regional decline in the state.

Regular unemployment insurance benefit payments were up 627.8% to a weekly average payout of $12,201,799.   The number of claimants increased by 727.7%.