Job Growth

Idaho ranked high in '06 for job growth

Report says state showed stronger job market; wages rose also but still lag significantly behind U.S. average

By Joe Estrella - Idaho Statesman

Edition Date: 01/20/07

Idaho's economy gained ground in 2006, thanks to one of the strongest employment markets in the nation, according to a new analysis of state economies.

The Corporation For Enterprise Development's annual Report Card for The States gave Idaho an A for job growth, up from a B a year ago. The improvement earned the state fourth place in the report's employment category, up from 17th a year ago.

"If I was looking for a job, I would want to be in Idaho," said CFED senior economist Beadsie Woo.

The most significant grade awarded to Idaho was in earnings and job quality, said Idaho Commerce and Labor Director Roger B. Madsen. The state received a C, up from an F the previous two years. Idaho ranked 35th. Last year, it ranked 47th.

Madsen said the significance of the C grade was that it was based on Bureau of Labor Statistics from 2003, the most recent available, when "the state was recovering from a decline in wages and employment due to the ‘tech wreck' that occurred earlier in the decade." Commerce and Labor estimates that the state created 28,000 new jobs last year, an increase of 4.6 percent.

Idaho also earned Cs for the competitiveness of its jobs and the number of new businesses created, the same grade in this category as a year ago. It received a second straight B for public and private investment that is positioning Idaho for future economic growth. 

Woo said the report showed potential problems for Idaho.

The number of business closings and a shrinking industrial base earned the state a D in the category of competitiveness of its existing businesses.

"That means that the economy could be vulnerable if its remaining dominant industries were subject to a sudden downturn," Woo said.

David Buchholz, CFED research director, said the state also continues to suffer from "low and stagnating wages." Commerce and Labor reported that the average salary in Idaho between July 2005 and June 2006 was $31,874, up from $30,238 for the same period a year earlier. The national average salary in 2005 was $40,146, or 21 percent higher than Idaho.

"But the progress on many fronts is undeniably positive," Buchholz said.

Whether Idaho will show continued improvement in next year's CFED report was not immediately clear.

A recent Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. report said the state economy began slowing in the third quarter of 2006. The FDIC state profile showed third-quarter job growth remained strong at 4.2 percent, but was below a nation-leading second quarter rate of 5.1 percent.