IDAHO, USA — More people are looking for work in Idaho. The Department of Labor (IDL) released its monthly employment data last week and the report showed unemployment rose from 3.5 to 3.6 from August to September.
IDL Principal Research Analyst Will Winkle said the numbers show that more people are joining the workforce.
"In September, we had our largest increase so far this year, which is over 4000 the previous two months, we had close to 4000 so it's just more and more people joining the labor force, which makes a more competitive job market," Winkle said.
Winkle added that it's more beneficial for businesses because they have a deeper pool of talent to draw from, and that the difficulty in filling open positions depends on the sector.
"A lot of people are moving here, people with higher education, specialized training, so for them, it's for employers in those areas that need those types of jobs, then it is easier, because they have that larger pool of talent. But people aren't really moving here to an extent to keep up with a lot of the service industry. Jobs that are now in high demand," he said.
September's report shows the labor force participation rate rose from 63.1 to 63.2. The labor force participation rate represents the percentage of people 16 and older who are either employed or actively looking for work.
Winkle said that, although there isn't a lot of data on the subject, people who get educated here tend to stay, and that Idaho universities have had larger enrolments over the past few years.
People who want to know more about Idaho's employment numbers can go to lmi.idaho.gov.