Regional labor market information

• Labor demand in northern Idaho was robust in March 2025, with a total of 2,077 unique job postings in the region. Job postings were elevated relative to both the previous month, with 1,876 postings in February 2025. Year over year, the region experienced 1,858 postings in March 2024. Unemployment decreased slightly to 4.4% in March, compared to 4.8% in February and 4.5% in March of 2024. Total employment and labor force both increased slightly year over year.

Figure 1.

Northern Idaho seasonally adjusted data	Mar-25 (P)	Feb-25 (R)	Mar-24 (B)
Civilian labor force	131,883	133,076	129,023
Total employment	126,028	126,750	123,188
Unemployment	5,855	6,326	5,835
% of labor force unemployed	4.4%	4.8%	4.5%
Source: Idaho Department of Labor	P – Preliminary, R – Revised, B – Benchmarked

Figure 2.

Top 10 occupations by unique job postings in northern Idaho	Postings, Mar-25	Postings, Mar-24
Registered nurses	96	77
Retail salespersons	92	86
Home health and personal care aides	62	24
First-line supervisors of retail sales workers	52	21
Customer service representatives	45	37
Laborers, freight, stock, material movers and hand	40	42
Cashiers	37	21
Medical and health services managers	31	28
Fast food and counter workers	30	40
Landscaping and groundskeeping workers	29	11
Source: Conference Board data via Lightcast

Figure 3.

Top 10 industries by unique job postings in northern Idaho, March 2025	Postings, Mar-25	Postings, Mar-25
Health care and social assistance	291	242
Retail trade	259	259
Administrative and support services	174	145
Manufacturing	108	120
Accommodation and food services	102	119
Wholesale trade	95	71
Professional, scientific and technical services	86	66
Finance and insurance	81	73
Other services (except public administration)	76	70
Construction	65	61
Source: Conference Board data via Lightcast

Figure 4.

Top 10 hardest-to-fill occupations in northern Idaho	Median duration Mar-25	Median duration Mar-24
Parts salespeople	30	N/A
Speech language pathologists	26	N/A
Correctional officer and jailers	26	N/A
Roofers	25	N/A
Veterinarians	25	N/A
Packaging, filling machine operators and tenders	24	N/A
Logisticians	23	N/A
Lifeguards, ski patrol and other recreational protective services workers	23	N/A
Middle school teachers, except special and Career Technical Education	23	N/A
Database architects	21	N/A
Source: Conference Board data via Lightcast

Regional news

Kootenai County

• Hagadone Hospitality broke ground on the new Sherman Tower, which will be a 15-story expansion of the Coeur d’Alene Resort. The tower will feature 139 guest rooms in addition to nearly 10,000 square feet of restaurant, retail and office space. The opening is scheduled for the spring of 2027. Source: Coeur d’Alene Press

• Two new hotels are under construction in Kootenai County. In Coeur d’Alene, a Marriott-branded AC Hotel is now under construction, which will have 126 guest rooms and open in 2027. Work was previously underway on a 151-room Hyatt Place Hotel in Post Falls, which will open in December. Source: Journal of Business

• The developers of the new Thomas George luxury high-rise condominium tower in Coeur d’Alene announced that construction is scheduled for completion this year, with residents moving in by years’ end. The top floors of the 80-unit, 18 story tower have been poured. Source: Journal of Business

Openings

• Houston Hot Chicken (Post Falls)

• HeatPraxia (Coeur d’Alene)

• Lakeside CrossFit (Coeur d’Alene)

• Marketplace@Miles (Hayden)

• Grocery Outlet (Post Falls)

• Ponderosa Building Supply (Hauser)

• The Hound House (Hayden)

• Milk and Honey (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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