(ID Dept. of Labor Press Release, March 28, 2025)
Idaho’s February unemployment rate drops to 3.7%
– State first in nation for over-the-year nonfarm job growth at 2.7% –
Idaho’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate decreased by 0.1 percentage point between January and February, down to 3.7%.
February’s labor force increased by 433 people to 1,012,372 while the labor force participation rate – the percentage of people 16 years of age or older who are either employed or looking for work – decreased by 0.1 percentage point between January and February, down to 63.8%.
Total employment increased by 797 (0.1%) to 974,409 as unemployment decreased by 364 (0.9%) to 37,963.
Idaho’s nonfarm jobs had a net increase of only 100 jobs for a total of 878,100 in February. Industry sectors with the greatest over-the-month gains included accommodation and food services (2.3%); arts, entertainment and recreation (1.3%); private educational services (1.2%); management of companies and enterprises (1.1%); professional, scientific and technical services (1.1%); durable goods manufacturing (0.9%); real estate and rental and leasing (0.8%); local government (0.6%) and transportation, warehousing and utilities (0.6%).
Industries that experienced job declines in February included state government (-5%), natural resources (-2.3%), other services (-2%), information (-1.1%), construction (-0.9%), federal government (-0.7%), nondurable goods manufacturing (-0.6%), health care and social services (-0.5%) and retail trade (-0.2%).
Four of Idaho’s six Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) had over-the-month nonfarm job increases in February. Twin Falls saw the largest increase of 0.6%, followed by Idaho Falls (0.5%), Pocatello (0.5%) and Boise (0.1%). Coeur d’Alene and Lewiston both saw a decrease of 0.3%.
Year over Year
Idaho’s 3.7% unemployment rate for February 2025 was up from 3.5% the prior year. The labor force was up 2%, an increase of 20,016 people.
The number of unemployed Idahoans increased 10.3% (3,556) while total employed was 1.7% (16,460) higher over the same period.
Total nonfarm jobs increased by 2.7% (22,800). Most major industry sectors gained jobs except administrative, support, and waste management services (-5.4%); information (-2.2%) and state government (-1.6%).
All but one of Idaho’s MSAs saw year-over-year nonfarm job gains in February. Boise had the greatest increase at 3.4%, followed by Coeur d’Alene (3%), Twin Falls (3%), Idaho Falls (2.7%), and Pocatello (1.7%). Lewiston experienced the only decrease at 0.7%
National Comparisons
Nationally, the unemployment rate increased by 0.1 percentage point between January and February, up to 4.1%. The number of unemployed increased by 203,000 (3%) to 7.1 million. Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 151,000 (0.1%) to 159.2 million.
Note: The employment situation releases for January, February and March have nonstandard release dates due to the Bureau of Labor Statistics benchmarking process. County estimates and benchmarked data will not be available until the release of March 2025 data. Benchmarking includes revisions to state labor force estimates based on new inputs and population data. Nonfarm jobs are benchmarked using reported employer data.
