Regional news

Regional labor market information

Figure 1.

Northern Idaho, seasonally adjusted data	Sep-25	Aug-25	Sep-24
Civilian labor force	131,307	129,482	130,327
Total employment	125,163	123,270	124,134
Unemployment	6,144	6,212	6,193
Percentage of labor force unemployed	4.7%	4.8%	4.8%
Source: Idaho Department of Labor	P – Primary	R – Revised	B – Benchmarked

Figure 2.

Northern Idaho job postings	Nov-25	Nov-24
Unique postings	1,598	1,297
Days posted	10	21
Number of employers	533	498
Average hourly wage	$22.46	$22.46
Percentage of postings with advertised wage	56%	52%
Source: The Conference Board-Lightcast Help Wanted OnLine

• Job posting data shows a relatively strong labor market in northern Idaho, with both postings and the number of hiring employers increasing year over year. Wages posted increased slightly from October but remain in line with November of 2024.

Figure 3.

Top 10 occupations by unique job postings in nothern Idaho	Postings, Nov-25	Postings, Nov-24
Registered nurses	87	73
Retail salespersons	57	32
Home health and personal care aides	51	32
Food service managers	41	22
Laborers and freight, stock and material movers, hand	34	32
Customer service representatives	31	23
Medical and health services managers	29	25
Secretaries and administrative assistants, except legal, medical and executive	25	10
Heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers	24	22
First-line supervisors of retail sales workers	22	23
Source: The Conference Board-Lightcast Help Wanted OnLine

• The highest in-demand occupations in northern Idaho are concentrated in a few specific sectors, including health care, consumer services like retail trade, food services, transportation and warehousing.

Figure 4.

Top 10 industries by unique job postings in northern Idaho	Postings, Nov-25	Postings, Nov-24
Health care and social assistance	222	229
Retail trade	159	157
Administrative and support services	154	161
Accommodation and food services	142	74
Professional, scientific and technical services	89	58
Finance and insurance	77	54
Manufacturing	59	51
Transportation and warehousing	52	22
Construction	49	47
Other services (except public administration)	49	26
Source: The Conference Board-Lightcast Help Wanted OnLine

• Top industries for job postings remained largely consistent in rankings. Postings in the top three industries are in line with November of last year. However, other industries like accommodation and food services, showed a significant increase from last year.

Figure 5.

Top 10 hardest-to-fill occupations in northern Idaho	Median duration (days), Nov-25	Unique postings, Nov-25
Physical therapists	28	12
Computer network support specialists	28	3
Cashiers	26	15
Millwrights	23	2
Computer systems analysts	22	4
Correctional officers and jailers	21	2
Security guards	20	4
Bartenders	19	9
Phlebotomists	19	6
School psychologists	19	2
Source: The Conference Board-Lightcast Help Wanted OnLine

• The most difficult to fill positions in northern Idaho are relatively rare and are in low demand, with most showing fewer than 10 postings.

Regional news

• Unfavorable weather has so far prevented area ski resorts from full and consistent operations. Lookout Pass and Silver Mountain, in Shoshone County, both had delayed openings and have since experienced intermittent closures due to inconsistent weather. Schweitzer, in Bonner County, currently has one lift operating. Idaho ranked No. 10 nationally for total annual skier visits. Source: Coeur d’Alene Press

Kootenai County

• Northern Idaho Advanced Care Hospital is expanding services with the opening of a new 17-bed rehabilitation unit at their Post Falls campus. This will raise the capacity at the Post Falls campus, which is shared with Rehabilitation Hospital of the Northwest, to a total of 47 intensive medical rehabilitation beds. Source: Coeur d’Alene Press

• The Coeur d’Alene Planning and Zoning Commission voted unanimously to approve Phase 1 of the Coeur Terre development. Phase 1 will include 595 housing units in a mix of age-restricted apartments, single family lots and multifamily apartments. Across all phases, which will be built out over multiple decades, Coeur Terre will include 2,800 total housing units along with commercial spaces and two public schools. Source: Coeur d’Alene Press

Regional openings

• Twigs Bistro (Coeur d’Alene)

• Sportive studio (Coeur d’Alene)

• Giuseppe’s Pasta Posto Osteria (Coeur d’Alene)

• Club Pilates (Post Falls)

• Sahara Pizza (Hayden)

• La Condesa (Coeur d’Alene)

• Lucky Mountain Microblading (Sandpoint)

• Northpoint Spa (Ponderay)

• Cleaning Ninja 7B (Sandpoint)

• Lake Life Wellness Center & Yoga Studio (Sandpoint)

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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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