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Nov 07, 2009 (The Lewiston Morning Tribune - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- Unemployment rose seven-tenths of a percent in north central Idaho in October, leaving joblessness at 7.9 percent -- the highest level since 1985.

The completion of road and forest projects supported by the federal stimulus package and lower levels of hiring in retail for the coming holiday season are major factors in the statistics released Friday, said Kathryn Tacke, a regional economist at the Idaho Department of Labor in Coeur d'Alene. "Obviously the numbers are pretty depressing."

The weakness is most severe in Clearwater and Idaho counties, where the unemployment rates rose from 15.7 percent to 16.8 percent and 10.8 percent to 12.3 percent, respectively, compared with the previous month.

"It's only the fifth highest in the state," Tacke said of Clearwater County. "That's a sign of how bad things are right now."

Clearwater and Idaho counties are places where many residents work harvesting trees and manufacturing lumber for a housing market that's in the doldrums.

The decline in demand for housing has hit them in other ways. Fewer people are building homes in the scenic backcountry for wealthy people from other states.

And the retail businesses patronized by loggers, mill workers and carpenters have seen declines too, Tacke said.

Similar but less pronounced trends were at work in other parts of the region.

Asotin County's unemployment rate went from 8.9 percent in September to 9.1 percent in October, suffering from losses in lumber, construction and transportation for logging and retail, Tacke said.

Elsewhere, a general softness in all sectors, such as retail and local government, were the reasons for the declines, Tacke said. "If it weren't for the stimulus package, the weakness in local government would be much greater. Even the health care industry is basically just sort of holding its own, which makes it look pretty good next to everything else. Things are just tough."

That was reflected in unemployment rates that rose between September and October from 5.7 percent to 6.1 percent in Nez Perce County, 6.1 percent to 6.7 percent in Latah County and 5.3 percent to 5.8 percent in Lewis County.

Lewiston continues to have the lowest unemployment rate of Idaho's nine largest cities at 6.5 percent. Its two largest manufacturers, ATK, an ammunition maker, and Clearwater Paper, are the reason for the relative strength, Tacke said.

One of the challenges facing all communities in this economic slump is the behavior of older workers who normally retire during recessions, Tacke said.

That option isn't available to as many now since more people depend on investments in the stock market and not defined benefit plans from their employers, Tacke said.

Plus, investment portfolios in some instances have been hit so hard by the decline in the stock market that some retirees are being forced back into the work place, Tacke said.

Williams may be contacted at ewilliam@lmtribune.com or (208) 848-2261.

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Elaine Williams

Copyright (C) 2009, The Lewiston Morning Tribune, Idaho

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