Regional news

Regional labor market information

Figure 1.

Southeastern Idaho, seasonally adjusted data	Jun-26 (P)	May-26 (R)	Jun-25 (B)
Civilian labor force	83,931	84,814	86,415
Total employment	80,605	81,420	83,272
Unemployment	3,326	3,394	3,143
Percentage of labor force unemployed	4.0%	4.0%	3.6%
Source: Idaho Department of Labor	P – Preliminary	R – Revised	B – Benchmarked

• The unemployment rate remained elevated in the southeastern region at 4% for the month. Notably, preliminary estimates for employment show a net loss of 815 employed people in the region with no corresponding increase in unemployment.

Figure 2.

Southeastern Idaho job postings	Jun-26	Jun-25
Unique postings	2,707	2,347
Days posted	25	21
Number of employers	623	545
Average hourly wage	$21.35	$20.49
Percentage of postings with advertised wage	39%	39%
Source: The Conference Board-Lightcast Help Wanted OnLine

• Unique job postings increased by 360 postings year-over-year while the duration of those postings decreased by four days. The number of employers also increased by 78 in the region. May 2025 was the first month to see elevated job postings from Lightcast after a change to how job postings were counted. This means that June 2026 is more or less comparable to June of 2025 which couldn’t be said for the past few months.

Figure 3.

Top 10 occupations by unique job postings in southeastern Idaho	Postings, Jun-26	Postings, Jun-25
Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers	165	83
Registered Nurses	112	91
Retail Salespersons	95	95
Home Health and Personal Care Aides	79	85
Customer Service Representatives	48	34
Nursing Assistants	45	36
Maintenance and Repair Workers, General	44	26
First-Line Supervisors of Retail Sales Workers	43	39
Coaches and Scouts	35	34
Driver/Sales Workers	35	20
Source: The Conference Board-Lightcast Help Wanted OnLine

• Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers, Retail Salespersons and Registered Nurses were in the top in-demand occupations list again for June. Driver/Sales Workers were new to the list with 15 added job postings year over year.

Figure 4.

Top 10 industries by unique job postings in southeastern Idaho	Postings, Jun-26	Postings, Jun-25
General Medical and Surgical Hospitals	292	289
Supermarkets and Other Grocery (Except Convenience Stores)	75	76
Colleges, Universities and Professional Schools	56	62
Elementary and Secondary Schools	52	99
Credit Unions	52	37
Lessors of Other Real Estate Property	43	32
General Freight Trucking, Long-Distance, Truckload	36	12
Limited-Service Restaurants	35	38
Home Health Care Services	32	54
Automotive Parts and Accessories Retailers	30	36
Source: The Conference Board-Lightcast Help Wanted OnLine

• Hiring for hospitals, supermarkets and universities made the top of the list among industries while trucking decreased to 36 postings. However, trucking still had more postings than this time last year.

Figure 5.

Top 10 hardest-to-fill occupations in southeastern Idaho	Median duration, Jun-26	Unique postings, Jun-26
Mechanical Engineers	59	5
Logisticians	58	2
Electrical Engineers	58	13
New Accounts Clerks	55	2
Aircraft Mechanics and Service Technicians	54	1
Property, Real Estate and Community Association Managers	53	5
Public Relations Managers	53	2
Physical Therapists	52	11
Veterinary Technologists and Technicians	52	1
Postsecondary Teachers	51	9
Source: The Conference Board-Lightcast Help Wanted OnLine

• Electrical Engineers were one of the hardest-to-fill occupations in June with postings lasting 58 days on average with moderate demand at 13 open positions. Mechanical Engineers had the longest time to fill positions but the demand for mechanical engineers was less than electrical with only five positions open in the region.

Regional news

Bannock County

• The Pocatello City Council approved an agreement to conduct preliminary engineering work to assess the feasibility of a new railroad crossing on Phil Meador Avenue to Bullock Street. Source: East Idaho News

• Portneuf Valley Development Corporation and Idaho State University held a forum with representatives from Idaho National Laboratory and the Idaho Advanced Energy Consortium to explore nuclear energy in Bannock County. Small modular nuclear reactors were discussed, as was the viability of a reactor in Downey and Pocatello. Source: Idaho State Journal

• The Pocatello City Council voted four to one in upholding the denial of Lex Development’s conditional use permit for an Artificial Intelligence data center. Developer Schultz has 28 days to file a lawsuit to contest this ruling. Source: Idaho State Journal

Bingham County

• The Fort Hall Fire Station opened after two years of construction. The new, 25,699 square foot, station will house 18 line personnel and four administrative staff. The new facility is also capable of housing the entire fleet where before trucks had to be distributed in different buildings with one truck outside year-around. Source: KPVI News, Idaho State Journal

Caribou County

• Grace Medical Clinic opened in Grace, Idaho. This is an expansion of the wider Caribou Medical Clinic. The clinic hosted a ribbon cutting July 13. Source: The News Examiner

Regional openings

•  Sweet B’s Bakery opened in Blackfoot.

Regional closings

• Fuji Steakhouse and Sushi Bar opened a new location in Chubbuck.

---

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.

This workforce product was funded by a grant awarded by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employment and Training Administration. The product was created by the recipient and does not necessarily reflect the official position of the U.S. Department of Labor. The U.S. Department of Labor makes no guarantees, warranties, or assurances of any kind, express or implied, with respect to such information, including any information on linked sites and including, but not limited to, accuracy of the information or its completeness, timeliness, usefulness, adequacy, continued availability, or ownership. This product is copyrighted by the institution that created it. Internal use by an organization and/or personal use by an individual for non-commercial purposes is permissible. All other uses require the prior authorization of the copyright owner.