Regional news

Northern developments for May were prepared by Labor Economist Lisa Grigg.

Regional labor market information

Figure 1.

Northern Idaho, seasonally adjusted data	Apr-26 (P)	Mar-26 (R)	Apr-25 (B)
Civilian labor force	128,247	129,127	129,093
Total employment	122,535	123,385	122,877
Unemployment	5,712	5,742	6,216
Percentage of labor force unemployed	4.5%	4.4%	4.8%
Source: Idaho Department of Labor	P – Preliminary	R – Revised	B – Benchmarked

• Unemployment rates during the month decreased for the counties of Benewah, Bonner, Boundary and Shoshone offset by a slight increase in Kootenai. Combined, Boundary and Bonner counties added nearly 300 jobs over the year offset by small decreases in Kootenai, Shoshone and Benewah counties.

Figure 2.

Northern Idaho job postings	Apr-26	Apr-25
Unique postings	5,019	5,024
Days posted	25	26
Number of employers	1,133	1,106
Average hourly wage	$22.46	$22.00
Percentage of postings with advertised wage	48%	52%
Source: The Conference Board-Lightcast Help Wanted OnLine

• Total postings for April 2026 were relatively flat from March 2026 while new postings during the month decreased 16% from last month. New postings accounted for 39% of listings in April 2026 compared to 47% in March 2026.

Figure 3.

Top 10 occupations by unique job postings in northern Idaho	Postings, Apr-26	Postings, Apr-25
Registered Nurses	181	292
Retail Salespersons	159	231
Customer Service Representatives	119	104
Home Health and Personal Care Aides	115	158
Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers	96	67
Laborers and Freight, Stock and Material Movers, Hand	88	79
Merchandise Displayers and Window Trimmers	83	76
Medical and Health Services Managers	83	76
First-Line Supervisors of Retail Sales Workers	79	118
Janitors and Cleaners, Except Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners	79	58
Source: The Conference Board-Lightcast Help Wanted OnLine

• Job postings in April 2026 were elevated for Customer Service Representatives, Merchandise Displayers and Window Trimmers. This growth was offset by declines within Sales Occupations.

Figure 4.

Top 10 industries by unique job postings in northern Idaho	Postings, Apr-26	Postings, Apr-25
Healthcare and Social Assistance	769	832
Retail Trade	616	657
Administrative and Support, Waste Management and Remediation Services	421	441
Accommodation and Food Services	394	401
Manufacturing	272	242
Professional, Scientific and Technical Services	260	227
Finance and Insurance	195	204
Wholesale Trade	195	216
Construction	153	155
Other Services (Except Public Administration)	130	125
Source: The Conference Board-Lightcast Help Wanted OnLine

• Retail Trade, Finance and Insurance and Wholesale Trade had minor job posting growth compared to last month while listing volumes for each of these industries was down compared to a year ago in April 2025.

Figure 5.

Top 10 hardest-to-fill occupations in northern Idaho	Median duration (days), Apr-26	Unique postings, Apr-26
Sales Representatives, Wholesale and Manufacturing, Technical and Scientific Products	38	52
Cooks, Restaurant	37	45
Fast Food and Counter Workers	33	54
Food Preparation Workers	32	59
Landscaping and Groundskeeping Workers	32	48
Driver/Sales Workers	32	44
Sales Representatives of Services, Except Advertising, Insurance, Financial Services and Travel	31	45
Financial Managers	31	31
Production Workers, All Other	31	55
Retail Salespersons	30	159
Source: The Conference Board-Lightcast Help Wanted OnLine

• The most difficult positions to fill by posting duration were within life, physical and social science occupations (at 38 days), personal care and service occupations (at 33 days) and legal occupations (at 33 days).

Regional news

• The northern region reported 67 average weekly initial unemployment insurance claims and 761 average weekly continuing claims during April 2026. Initial claim volume decreased 12% from the previous month and 6% from the 71 average weekly initial claims filed in April 2025. Continuing weekly claim volume in the region decreased 39% from March 2026 and 22% from the 978 average weekly claims in April 2025. Weekly volume for statewide initial claims decreased 15% from March 2026 and continuing claims also decreased 31% from April 2025. Source: Idaho Department of Labor

Benewah County

• Heyburn State Park celebrated a grand opening of the new Chatcolet Marina. Source: Heyburn State Park

Bonner County

• The Ponderay Planning and Zoning Commission approved a special use permit request by Avista Corporation for development of a six-acre substation on a 22-acre parcel on Bronx Road. The initial construction period is estimated to take 16 months. Source: Coeur d’Alene Press

• The Bonner Community Food Bank purchased a 12,000 square foot building in Ponderay. The food bank’s operations will remain in Sandpoint until fall 2026 when transition to the new site will commence. Source: Sandpoint Reader

• The Idaho Department of Environmental Quality awarded over $40 million to the City of Sandpoint for wastewater infrastructure upgrades along with drinking water system improvements. Source: Idaho Department of Environmental Quality

• Dardan Enterprises was selected by the East Bonner County Library District to construct a 4,456 square foot addition to the Sandpoint Library. Source: KREM

Boundary County

• The Twenty Mile Creek Water Users Association was awarded a $4.5 million drinking water construction loan by the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality to improve the water treatment plant, upgrade water lines, add additional water meters and change out the pressure reducing valve station. Source: Department of Environmental Quality

Kootenai County

• Safariland LLC acquired Alien Gear Holsters for $10.3 million as part of a court-approved bankruptcy auction distributing the assets of Tedder Industries LLC. Court records indicate Alien Gear Holsters employs 108 workers with operations in a 70,000 square foot facility in Post Falls. Source: Spokane Journal of Business

• PNGC Power and Kindle Energy have agreed to jointly construct a combined-cycle natural gas power plant in Rathdrum. The construction and design period is estimated to take approximately six years to complete. Source: Coeur d’Alene Press

• The City of Post Falls accepted a bid by Rathdrum’s LaRiviere to build the Quarry Sport Complex. The project includes two fields, bathrooms, a shelter and a parking lot. Construction has started and is expected to continue through the end of 2026. Source: Coeur d’Alene Press

• Kootenai School District will adopt a four-day school week for the 2026-2027 academic year. Source: Coeur d’Alene Press

• The Coeur d’Alene City Council approved a memorandum of understanding with Coeur d’Alene Little League for potential construction of an indoor baseball complex. Source: KREM

Shoshone County

• Drug treatment services for Shoshone County’s Idaho Law Enforcement Diversion program will transition over the next few months to the Shoshone Medical Center Wellness Center in Smelterville. Source: Shoshone News Press

Regional openings

• 16 Cents, 3 Shoes & 5 Socks furniture and mattress store, Rathdrum

• Bare Root Skin Essential and Esthetics, Rathdrum

• Fairwinds Aviation flight training, Coeur d’Alene

• AlpineWeb Design, Coeur d’Alene

• Remedy Massage at Midtown, Coeur d’Alene

• Habit Burger and Grill, Coeur d’Alene

• River & Rye cocktail bar, Coeur d’Alene

• People’s Waffle, Coeur d’Alene

• Mor Furniture for Less, Hayden

• Hyatt Place hotel, Post Falls

• Nom Nom, Post Falls

• Coeur Dance Arts, Post Falls

• Sandy Bend International Health Fund, Sandpoint

• Prepared Right, Bonners Ferry

• Brad’s Guns, Kellogg

• The Weeks Co. & Lantern Lights Bookshop, Wallace

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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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