Regional news

Regional labor market information

Figure 1.

North central Idaho job postings	Sep-25	Sep-24
Unique postings	2,457	1,795
Days posted	27	31
Number of employers	651	319
Average hourly wage	$25.05	$26.40
Percentage of postings with advertised wage	46%	34%
Source: The Conference Board-Lightcast Help Wanted OnLine

• Job posting comparability between 2024 and 2025 is significantly affected by a change in processes implemented by Lightcast during 2025. Total job postings for regional employers in September were at essentially the same level as August 2025. September had over 1,100 new postings during the month spread over 358 employers, compared to around 900 new listings from 344 employers posted in August.

Figure 2.

Top 10 occupations by unique job postings in north central Idaho	Postings, Sep-25	Postings, Sep-24
Registered nurses	153	121
Retail salespersons	82	95
Home health and personal care aides	64	21
First-line supervisors of retail sales workers	50	49
Heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers	46	40
Physicians, all other	44	8
Customer service representatives	43	24
Medical and health service managers	41	32
Physical therapists	36	37
Merchandise displayers and window trimmers	32	20
Source: The Conference Board-Lightcast Help Wanted OnLine

• Health care practitioners and support occupations continue to lead in postings, accounting for over 32% of total postings in September 2025 compared to 28% one year ago. Compared to last month, job listings increased for medical and health service managers and heavy truck drivers. Retail supervisors, home health and personal care aides have had postings decline.

Figure 3.

Top 10 industries by unique job postings in north central Idaho	Postings, Sep-25	Postings, Sep-24
Health care and social assistance	402	387
Administrative, support and waste management remediation services	375	245
Retail trade	242	229
Educational services	151	234
Accommodation and food services	131	37
Manufacturing	107	90
Wholesale trade	99	45
Professional, scientific and technical services	66	118
Wholesale trade	62	46
Public administration	62	62
Source: The Conference Board-Lightcast Help Wanted OnLine

• Total job postings remained relatively flat compared to last month for most major industries. There were slight decreases in retail, accommodation and food services and public administration. However, this decrease was offset by small increases in manufacturing and professional, scientific and technical services. While health care postings remain robust, educational services have decreased over 30% from the same time last year.

Figure 4.

Top 10 hardest-to-fill occupations in north central Idaho	Median duration, Sep-25	Unique postings, Sep-25
Fast food and counter workers	48	31
First-line supervisors of food preparation and serving workers	46	17
Obstetricians and gynocologists	42	23
Maids and housekeeping cleaners	41	28
Cardiovascular technologists and technicians	40	23
Postsecondary teachers	36	19
Home health and personal care aides	35	64
Janitors and cleaners, except maids and housekeeping cleaners	34	30
Retail salespersons	32	82
Maintenance and repair workers, general	32	26
Source: The Conference Board-Lightcast Help Wanted OnLine

• Job postings this month that have been posted for a while were either high-turnover jobs requiring minimal education (such as fast food jobs, maids, janitors, retail sales and home health aides) or the other extreme requiring high education or seeking highly specific specialized skills (such as obstetricians and postsecondary teachers).

Regional news

• The region reported an average of 17 weekly initial unemployment insurance claims in September 2025, this decreased from 20 in August 2025 and increased slightly from 15 in September 2024. The region averaged 144 weekly continuing claims during the month of September, which was flat with August 2025 and increased from 89 in September 2024. While initial claims remain very low, the higher level of continuing claims compared to last year, suggests that it may be taking claimants longer to secure new jobs. Claims data is available at lmi.idaho.gov.

• St. Joseph Regional Medical Center plans to merge operations with Valley Medical Center and Lewiston Orthopedics by the end of 2025. The combined entity will have over 800 employees in Lewiston. Source: Lewiston Tribune

• PotlatchDeltic will merge with Rayonier and will adopt a new company name prior to the transaction’s closing in the first half of 2026. PotlatchDeltic owns 642,000 acres of timberland in northern and north central Idaho, as well as a plywood mill in St. Maries. Source: PotlatchDeltic

• The University of Idaho and Lewis-Clark State College reported strong enrollment during the fall of 2025. Compared to the fall of 2024, University of Idaho enrollment increased 2.6% to 10,849 students and Lewis-Clark State College increased by 4.3% to 4,045 students. Sources: University of Idaho and Lewis-Clark State College

• The Idaho Youth ChalleNGe Academy in Pierce held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for its newly completed student barracks building. The $15 million building covers 18,000 square feet and can house up to 180 students and trained personnel. Since opening in 2014, the academy has graduated more than 2,400 at risk Idaho high school students. Source: DailyFly

• The University of Idaho established the Forest Innovations Institute to collaborate with forest landowners and industry partners. But also to apply the latest research and technology. Source: University of Idaho

Clearwater County

• The Greer community broke ground to build a new volunteer fire station next to Greer Park. Source: Clearwater Tribune

• Clearwater County was selected by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as a 2025 participant of the Recreation Economy for Rural Communities (RERC) program. RERC provides multi-year planning assistance to enhance outdoor recreation opportunities. Source: National Association of Counties

• Clearwater Valley Health in Orofino was named a top three finalist for the 2025 Imaging for Impact award for launching its mobile mammography screening program to increase access and early detection efforts in rural areas. Source: Clearwater Tribune

Idaho County

• The Reliance Center of North Central Idaho (formerly the Hope Center) hosted a grand opening event in Grangeville. Source: Idaho County Free Press

• Blackmer Funeral Home in Grangeville is under new ownership. Source: Idaho County Free Press

Latah County

• The City of Moscow and the Whitman County Commissioners jointly agreed to hire Welch Comer Engineers to design a new bypass route to reduce truck traffic in downtown Moscow and Pullman. The city is also applying for a federal grant to fund this project. Source: Lewiston Tribune

• Westberg Roepke Moore Law is opening a new office in downtown Pullman, Washington in addition to their existing Moscow, Idaho location. Source: Pullman Radio

Nez Perce County

• The Boys & Girls Club of the Lewis-Clark Valley became the first Boys and Girls Club in the U.S. to have earned accreditation from Praesidium. Source: KLEW

Regional openings

• Triple S Food Truck, Nez Perce

• Belles and Boards charcuterie and catering, Nez Perce

• Slatter Honey food truck, Nez Perce

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This Idaho Department of Labor project is funded by the U.S. Department of Labor for SFY26 as part of the Workforce Information grant (41%) and state/nonfederal funds (59%) totaling $860,595.

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