Regional labor market information

• Labor demand in northern Idaho increased slightly in December 2024, with a total of 1,338 unique job postings in the region – an increase from 1,299 jobs in November. Increase is consistent with past seasonal trends, however labor demand is higher than it was at the same time last year, when postings totaled 1,282 jobs in December 2023. The unemployment rate increased slightly from 4.7% to 4.8% and remains higher than in December 2023. Both the total labor force and total employment remain above their 2023 levels.  

Figure 1.

Northern Idaho seasonally adjusted data	Dec-24 (P)	Nov-24 (R)	Dec-23 (B)
Civilian labor force	130,789	129,172	127,946
Total employment	124,474	123,097	122,592
Unemployment	6,315	6,075	5,354
% of labor force unemployed	4.8%	4.7%	4.2%
Source: Idaho Department of Labor	P – Preliminary, R – Revised, B – Benchmarked

Figure 2.

Top 10 occupations by unique job postings in northern Idaho	Postings, Dec-24	Postings, Dec-23
Registered salespersons	75	44
Registered nurses	61	79
Home health and personal care aides	42	38
Fast food and counter workers	38	22
First-line supervisors of retail sales workers	36	18
Laborers, freight, stock, material movers and hand	32	19
Unclassified occupation	28	51
Janitors and cleaners	25	20
Customer service representatives	25	32
Medical and health services managers	24	16
Source: Conference Board data via Lightcast

Figure 3.

Top 10 industries by unique job postings in northern Idaho	Postings, Dec-24	Postings, Dec-23
Health care and social assistance	274	196
Retail trade	174	153
Administrative and support services	113	121
Accommodation and food services	77	99
Construction	55	29
Finance and insurance	51	79
Manufacturing	47	59
Professional, scientific and technical services	47	50
Wholesale trade	45	39
Public administration	37	59
Source: Conference Board data via Lightcast

Figure 4.

Top 10 hardest-to-fill occupations in northern Idaho	Median duration, Dec-24	Median duration, Dec-23
Civil engineers	23	N/A
Maintenance, repair workers and general	20	N/A
Health care social workers	18	N/A
Pharmacy technicians	17	N/A
Nurse practitioners	17	N/A
Driver and sales workers	17	N/A
Skincare specialists	17	N/A
Project management specialists	16	N/A
Cooks and fast food workers	16	N/A
School psychologists	16	N/A
Source: Conference Board data via Lightcast

Regional news

• A joint Spokane-Coeur d’Alene aerospace tech hub has received $48 million in federal funding from the U.S. Department of Commerce. A consortium made up of more than 50 public and private sector organizations in Spokane and northern Idaho, including labor and workforce organizations, local governments, educational institutions and manufacturers applied for a first round of federal funding for the tech hub. The organizations failed to make the initial list of 12 projects to be funded in the first round. However, the Spokane-Coeur d’Alene tech hub was among the six projects selected for funding in the second round. Source: Journal of Business

• Despite a relatively snowless and warm winter at lower elevations, significant precipitation in northern Idaho is expected to end the region’s two-year drought. According to the Idaho Department of Water Resources, the mountain snow water equivalent was 135% of normal in the northern Panhandle. After two years of significant drought, the ongoing wet winter is expected to bring an end to drought conditions. Source: Coeur d’Alene Press

Kootenai County

• Heritage Health is consolidating and moving its operations to a larger new facility in Coeur d’Alene. The nonprofit provider offers medical, dental and behavioral health services to almost 26,000 patients across northern Idaho. The provider also currently operates 12 clinic locations across the region. Roughly half of Heritage Health’s 360 employees will work out of the new facility. Some services will move in January, while others – including pediatrics, dental and pharmacy – will move in 2026. Source: Coeur d’Alene Press

• Construction will begin soon on the new Sherman Tower hotel in downtown Coeur d’Alene. The 15-story hotel will offer 139 rooms and more than 10,000 square feet of restaurant, retail and office space. The Sherman Tower is expected to open in the spring of 2027. Source: Coeur d’Alene Press

• Work is resuming ahead of schedule to complete a traffic improvement project on Government Way in Coeur d’Alene. Thanks to a relatively snowless winter, work on the corridor improvement (which was scheduled to resume in the spring) is currently underway. The project includes upgrades to signaling and pedestrian ramps at 10 different intersections. Source: Coeur d’Alene Press

• The Macy’s department store in Coeur d’Alene’s Silver Lake Mall will be closing this year, per an announcement from the company. The planned closure will shutter the last of the mall’s chain department store anchor tenants, after the closure of Sears in 2018 and JCPenny in 2021. Source: Journal of Business

Openings

• Taco Bell (Post Falls)
• Madd Chicken (Coeur d’Alene)
• Athol Dental Implants (Athol)
• Boiada Brazilian Grill (Coeur d’Alene)

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This Idaho Department of Labor project is funded by the U.S. Department of Labor for SFY25 as part of the Workforce Information grant (40%) and state/nonfederal funds (60%) totaling $885,703.

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