Regional news

Regional labor market information

Figure 1.

Southeastern Idaho, seasonally adjusted data	Sep-25 (P)	Aug-25 (R)	Sep-24 (B)
Civilian labor force	88,036	87,579	86,713
Total employment	84,735	84,354	83,548
Unemployment	3,310	3,225	3,165
Percentage of labor force unemployed	3.7%	3.7%	3.7%
Source: Idaho Department of Labor	P – Primary	R – Revised	B – Benchmarked

• Unemployment continued to hold steady at 3.7% in September with new additions to the labor force of about 500 people since August. About 400 people are employed in the region. Southeastern Idaho continues to match the state’s overall unemployment trend. This is the latest data available as of December.

Figure 2.

Southeastern Idaho job postings	Nov-25	Nov-24
Unique postings	2,294	1,322
Days posted	26	31
Number of employers	567	303
Median hourly wage	$20.00	$20.00
Percentage of postings with advertised wage	45%	32%
Source: The Conference Board-Lightcast Help Wanted OnLine

• Postings and the number of employers hiring have increased, but this is likely not a real shift. The Conference Board recently changed how they cover job boards. The number of competing employers in the region increased over 250 but this could also be due to changes in how employers are counted. Average hourly wage for postings is still $20 as it was last year, and this is more representative of the average posting with 45% of postings being that amount compared to only 32% last year.

Figure 3.

Top 10 occupations by unique job postings in southeastern Idaho	Postings, Nov-25	Postings, Nov-24
Registered nurses	130	62
Home health and personal care aides	87	19
Retail salespersons	82	74
Customer service representatives	66	15
Heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers	49	44
Laborers and freight, stock and material movers, hand	47	30
Janitors and cleaners, except maids and housekeeping cleaners	43	17
Fast food and counter workers	42	20
First-line supervisors of retail sales workers	40	41
Cashiers	38	18
Source: The Conference Board-Lightcast Help Wanted OnLine

• Health care had a large share of total postings in November with nurses and personal aides taking top position in unique job postings. There was also an elevated number of customer service representatives this month compared to last year.

Figure 4.

Top 10 industries by unique job postings in southeastern Idaho	Postings, Nov-25	Postings, Nov-24
General medical and surgical hospitals	207	130
Limited-service restaurants	102	18
Home health care services	61	11
Supermarkets and other grocery (except convenience stores)	57	46
Elementary and secondary schools	57	28
Colleges, universities and professional schools	49	59
Credit unions	42	2
Other general government support	38	59
Direct health and medical insurance carriers	37	37
Postal service	36	0
Source: The Conference Board-Lightcast Help Wanted OnLine

• General medical hospitals continue to dominate hiring activity in the southeastern region, nearly doubling postings since last year. Other notable hiring activity came from restaurants, likely from all the new recently opened establishments in the region like Mo’Bettahs Hawaiian Style Food, but also credit unions and elementary schools. The home health care industry makes the top of this list just as it’s associated occupation, home health aides, did in the previous table.

Figure 5.

Top 10 hardest-to-fill occupations in southeastern Idaho	Median duration, Nov-25	Unique postings, Nov-25
Landscaping and groundskeeping workers	57	2
Actuaries	57	2
Management analysts	55	1
Postsecondary teachers	54	10
Teaching assistants, except postsecondary	53	15
Coaches and scouts	53	10
Psychiatric technicians	53	3
Construction and building inspectors	49	2
Nursing assistants	43	7
Computer user support specialists	40	1
Source: The Conference Board-Lightcast Help Wanted OnLine

• While landscaping and actuaries are at the top of in demand occupations, both have low job postings indicating limited overall hiring activity. All occupations on this list currently have listings over 30 days but no individual position was hiring more than an estimated 15 people.

Regional news

Bannock County

• The Pocatello Fire Department purchased the former auto detail shop on Clark Street to store various tools and vehicle mounted equipment. There are also plans to convert some rooms to offices. The $710,000 property was bought using funds from the wildland deployment program. Source: Idaho State Journal

Caribou County

• The Caribou Medical Center opened a new Longevity and Wellness Clinic on Dec. 1. The clinic focuses on alternative therapies such as massage therapy, laser therapy and cosmetic treatment administered by onsite estheticians. Source: The News Examiner

Power County

• The Pocatello Regional Airport has plans to expand its flights to Salt Lake City by adding a second daily round-trip flight in May of 2026. Source: KIFI News

Regional openings

• Construction for a new Chipotle Mexican Grill next to WinCo Foods in Pocatello began.

Regional closings

• Big 5 Sporting Goods in Pocatello is preparing to close in April 2026.

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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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