Regional news

Regional labor market information

Figure 1.

South central Idaho, seasonally adjusted data	Apr-26 (P)	Mar-26 (R)	Apr-25 (B)
Civilian labor force	110,065	108,910	109,577
Total employment	106,385	105,461	105,922
Unemployment	3,680	3,449	3,655
Percentage of labor force unemployed	3.3%	3.2%	3.4%
Source: The Conference Board-Lightcast Help Wanted OnLine	P – Preliminary	R – Revised	B – Benchmarked

• While the national labor market continues to be volatile, south central’s labor market remains very stable.

Figure 2.

South central Idaho job postings	Apr-26	Apr-25
Unique postings	1,903	1,378
Days posted	10	10
Number of employers	587	358
Average hourly wage	$25.05	$25.05
Percentage of postings with advertised wage	45%	43%
Source: The Conference Board-Lightcast Help Wanted OnLine

• The number of unique postings and employers posting has increased from April 2026 to April 2025, but the median advertised salary was identical year over year.

Figure 3.

Top 10 occupations by unique job postings in south central Idaho	Postings, Apr-26	Postings, Apr-25
Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers	139	68
Registered Nurses	68	41
Retail Salespersons	56	53
Customer Service Representatives	44	29
First-Line Supervisors of Retail Sales Workers	38	22
Laborers and Freight, Stock and Material Movers, Hand	32	19
Merchandise Displayers and Window Trimmers	29	22
Maintenance and Repair Workers, General	25	27
General and Operations Managers	24	17
Secondary School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education	22	16
Source: The Conference Board-Lightcast Help Wanted OnLine

• Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers was the top occupation in south central Idaho by unique job postings in April 2026. The most in-demand occupations are concentrated in retail, food service and production occupations.

Figure 4.

Top 10 industries by unique job postings in south central Idaho	Postings, Apr-26	Postings, Apr-25
Healthcare and Social Assistance	273	163
Manufacturing	256	209
Retail Trade	205	173
Professional, Scientific and Technical Services	135	80
Transportation and Warehousing	112	47
Educational Services	95	45
Accommodation and Food Services	85	28
Wholesale Trade	83	59
Construction	81	57
Public Administration	80	68
Source: The Conference Board-Lightcast Help Wanted OnLine

• Healthcare and Social Assistance took back the top spot as the largest industry by unique job postings in April 2026. Accommodation and Food Services also saw a 301% increase in job postings year over year.

Figure 5.

Top 10 hardest-to-fill occupations in south central Idaho	Median duration (days), Apr-26	Unique postings, Apr-25
Disc Jockeys, Except Radio	25	N/A
Financial and Investment Analysts	24	17
Accountants and Auditors	21	6
Hearing Aid Specialists	21	N/A
Construction and Building Inspectors	20	N/A
Dental Assistants	20	N/A
Civil Engineers	19	7
Dispatchers, Except Police, Fire and Ambulance	19	N/A
Security Guards	19	N/A
General and Operations Managers	18	10
Source: The Conference Board-Lightcast Help Wanted OnLine

• The hardest-to-fill occupations in south central Idaho this month were primarily a mix of production occupations and financial occupations that have seen an increase in demand during tax season.

Regional news

• Idahoan Foods has announced it will cease operations at its Rupert facility at the end of June 2026. This closure will affect 61 employees. The city of Rupert is working with Idaho Commerce and regional economic partners to help employees in this transition. Source: KMVT

• Splash Canyon Hotel, a waterpark hotel, is coming to Twin Falls in mid-June. The 61-room hotel has multi-story waterslides, hot tubs, splash pads and an indoor pool. 28 additional rooms are planned to be completed in the next six to eight months. Source: Magic Valley Times News

Regional openings

• Terra Cotta Park – Twin Falls

• Panera Bread – Twin Falls

• Take 5 Oil Change – Twin Falls

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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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