Washinton County sees increase in jobless rate

The unemployment rate in Washington County jumped from 3 percent in March to 9.2 percent in April as businesses were impacted by the coronavirus pandemic.
 The county’s jobless rate in April was still lower than the state’s unemployment rate of 11.5 percent. Idaho shed 79,500 jobs during the month, according to the Idaho Department of Labor.
 There were 139 people looking for work in March in the county. That number increased to 417 in April as the governor’s stay-home order closed nonessential businesses and customer demand dropped.
 Neighboring counties also experienced an increase in unemployment rates. Payette County rose to 9.4 percent in April from 2.8 percent in March. The number of people looking for work increased from 330 in March to 1,091 in April.
 Sparsely populated Adams County had a significant increase in April, rising from an unemployment rate of 5.3 percent in March to 18.4 percent in April. The number of jobless people rose from 92 to 336.
 The state jobless rate increased nine percentage points from a record low 2.5 percent in March to an all-time high that exceeded rates of 10.2 percent in December 1982 and the Great Recession peak rate of 9.6 percent in June 2009.
 Four industry sectors suffered the biggest job losses with month-over-month decreases of 10 percent or more in April. They included leisure and hospitality (-42.3 percent), other services (-24.5 percent), information (-18.9 percent) and education and health services (-12.8 percent).
 The four sectors include many establishments most affected by COVID-19 safety measures including restaurants, ski resorts and golf courses, repair shops, salons, movie theaters, schools and non-emergency health care services.
 Natural resources was the only industry sector to show any payroll gains with an increase of 100 jobs.
 Nationally, unemployment reached 14.7 percent in April. The number of unemployed persons rose by 15.9 million to 23.1 million in April.
 One year earlier, the national unemployment rate was 3.6 percent, while the number of unemployed reached 5.9 million.
 The Idaho Department of Labor said on Friday that it has contracted with a call center to provide additional agents for claimants who want to talk to someone about their claim. The goal is for claimants to eventually experience shorter hold times.
 All claimants who call will be directed to call a new toll-free number – (833) 410-1009 – where an additional 30 people will be available to answer calls, take new claims over the phone and unlock accounts, among other tasks.  
 These additional resources free up Labor staff to handle more complex issues with claims, according to a news release.
 The call center will be staffed to answer calls from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. MT Monday-Friday. Spanish speaking agents will also be available.
 The Labor Department also has recently hired 20 people and continues to use staff members from other divisions in the agency to help handle the increase in claims.