Regional news

Regional labor market information

Figure 1.

Southeastern Idaho, seasonally adjusted data	May-26 (P)	Apr-26 (R)	May-25 (B)
Civilian labor force	84,884	84,483	86,419
Total employment	81,490	81,169	83,352
Unemployment	3,394	3,314	3,067
Percentage of labor force unemployed	4.0%	3.9%	3.5%
Source: Idaho Department of Labor	P – Preliminary	R – Revised	B – Benchmarked

• The unemployment rate continued to be elevated in the southeastern region at 4% for the month, increasing 0.1% since April with 80 more unemployed people. This month’s increase is associated with an increase in the total labor force with 400 people entering the labor force and 300 newly employed people. Year-over-year, the employment situation has declined with around 1,800 less employed people and 300 more unemployed people.

Figure 2.

Southeastern Idaho job postings	May-26	May-25
Unique postings	2,950	1,822
Days posted	26	30
Number of employers	659	385
Average hourly wage	$22.49	$20.98
Percentage of postings with advertised wage	40%	32%
Source: The Conference Board-Lightcast Help Wanted OnLine

• Unique job postings increased by 1,000 year-over-year while the duration of those postings decreased by four days. The number of employers also increased by around 250 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 May 2026 is more or less comparable to May 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, May-26	Postings, May-25
Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers	239	56
Retail Salespersons	116	68
Registered Nurses	102	72
Customer Service Representatives	70	24
Home Health and Personal Care Aides	60	22
First-Line Supervisors of Retail Sales Workers	53	32
Coaches and Scouts	46	40
Nursing Assistants	45	27
Janitors and Cleaners, Except Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners	44	25
Cooks, Restaurant	43	9
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 again. Coaches and Scouts made the list as summer activities ramp up, while janitor and cook postings elevated this month.

Figure 4.

Top 10 industries by unique job postings in southeastern Idaho	Postings, May-26	Postings, May-25
General Medical and Surgical Hospitals	281	258
General Freight Trucking, Long-Distance and Truckload	111	13
Elementary and Secondary Schools	82	88
Limited-Service Restaurants	71	38
Supermarkets and Other Grocery (Except Convenience) Stores	70	65
Credit Unions	56	15
Colleges, Universities and Professional Schools	51	59
Lessors of Other Real Estate Property	47	32
Engineering Services	38	40
Home Health Care Services	35	16
Source: The Conference Board-Lightcast Help Wanted OnLine

• Hiring for hospitals, trucking and schools made the top of the list among industries with trucking particularly elevated at 111 postings.

Figure 5.

Top 10 hardest-to-fill occupations in southeastern Idaho	Median duration, May-26	Unique postings, May-26
Farmers, Ranchers and Other Agricultural Managers	59	2
Reservation and Transportation Ticket Agents and Travel Clerks	59	1
Architectural and Civil Drafters	59	1
Tree Trimmers and Pruners	59	1
First-Line Supervisors of Non-Retail Sales Workers	59	2
Exercise Trainers and Group Fitness Instructors	58	2
Database Administrators	58	1
Emergency Medicine Physicians	57	5
Bill and Account Collectors	57	1
Aircraft Mechanics and Service Technicians	56	2
Source: The Conference Board-Lightcast Help Wanted OnLine

• Hardest to fill jobs this month lacked demand with one to five postings. Emergency Medicine Physicians were the most in demand occupation with five openings. Occupations included farmers, travel clerks, architectural drafters, tree trimmers and retail supervisors.

Regional news

Bannock County

• Idaho State University (ISU) is launching the state’s first three-year degree program. This accelerated bachelor track is offered for three programs: Law Enforcement Management and Leadership, Applied Business and Professional Sales and Trustworthy Digital Systems. The programs, developed in collaboration with industry partners, aim to meet demand for these occupations by reducing credits from 120 (in a typical degree) to 90. Source: ISU, East Idaho News

• The Pocatello-Chubbuck School District 25 formed a committee to investigate moving to a four-day week or a five-day hybrid schedule. The district currently operates on trimesters with five-day weeks and one-hour early release on Mondays. The board of trustees recognized that the change would offer minimal cost savings but is investigating the potential recruitment and retention benefits. Source: KIFI News

• Lex Developments LLC and Gus Schultz appealed to the City of Pocatello Hearing Examiner’s denial of a data center permit. After the Hearing Examiner denied the conditional use permit citing lack of information on the project and a heated public hearing, this appeal claims that the City of Pocatello did not follow procedure for issuing the permit. The appeal contends that the planning director was required to conduct an analysis on if the data center would have similar impact as other heavy industrial zones that were already approved for the Hoku Site. The city has 60 days to respond. Source: Idaho State Journal, KIFI News

• A settlement between Portneuf Medical Center’s parent company Ardent Health and Regence BlueShield of Idaho was not reached by the June 15 deadline. Negotiations, made public in April, stemmed from disagreements on cost increases that Regence alleges would have raised premiums too quickly for members. Ardent Health alleges that the increases were necessary due to unpaid claims and a high claim denial rate by Regence. Source: Idaho State Journal, East Idaho News

Bear Lake County

• Direct Communications will be expanding fiber optic internet services to Montpelier. Construction is scheduled to begin this fall. Additionally, the company is planning to expand wireless internet services to Pocatello through its subsidiary Optix. Source: Idaho State Journal

Bingham County

• A groundbreaking was held for the new Fort Hall Recreation Center. With expected completion by early 2028, the 67,000 square foot facility will replace the older Timbee Hall fitness center. Gaming economic development funds financed the construction. Source: Sho-Ban News

Regional openings

• Bath & Body Works opened in Pocatello.

• Landmark Tattoo opened in Pocatello.

• Chipotle Mexican Grill opened in Pocatello.

• Kanto Kona Filipino and African kitchen opened in Pocatello.

Regional closings

• Creative Minds Daycare closed in Montpelier.

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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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