Regional news

Regional labor market information

Figure 1.

Southwestern Idaho, seasonally adjusted data	Sep-25 (P)	Aug-25 (R)	Sep-24 (B)
Civilian labor force	493,966	491,287	488,230
Total employment	476,025	473,330	470,759
Unemployment	17,941	17,957	17,471
Percentage of labor force unemployed	3.6%	3.7%	3.6%
Source: Idaho Department of Labor	P – Primary	R – Revised	B – Benchmarked

• Southwestern Idaho has the largest share of Idaho’s labor force and outperformed the state when comparing the September employment statistics, except for the loss of unemployed people over the year which was more dramatic statewide. The state grew by .1% or 1,146 people, while the region grew by 1.2% or 5,736 people either working or actively seeking work.

• The unemployed grew faster regionally at 2.7% or 470 people actively seeking work with some claiming unemployment benefits. When people relocate to a state, there does seem to be a lag between seeking and accepting a job. The application and interview process can be slowed by employers vetting the applications with more employers requiring background checks —another time-consuming process.

• Idaho’s unemployed lost 820 people, a decrease of 2.2%. Southwestern Idaho’s employed residents are essentially keeping pace with the growth of the labor force at 1.1% or 5,266 more people employed than September 2024. The state’s total employment grew by .2% or 1,966 people over the year, indicating that pockets of Idaho declined in total employment while southwestern Idaho compensated for that loss.

• The monthly total employment followed the same trend with the region growing by .6% or 2,695 people and the state seeing zero percentage growth with 441 more residents working. The regional economy continues in an upward trend with the unemployed segment declining by .1% over the month or 16 less unemployed residents.

Figure 2.

Southwestern Idaho job postings	Nov-25	Nov-24
Unique postings	9,359	7,345
Days posted	13	21
Number of employers	2,258	1,915
Median hourly wage	$31.11	$28.86
Percentage of postings with advertised wage	57%	50%
Source: The Conference Board-Lightcast Help Wanted OnLine

• November’s job postings declined almost 25%, a significant drop from October 2025. This is a typical seasonal adjustment due to colder weather, the completion of harvest, school hiring completed and any big push of holiday hiring occurred earlier.

Figure 3.

Top 10 occupations by unique job postings in southwestern Idaho	Postings, Nov-25	Postings, Nov-24
Registered nurses	271	260
Customer service representatives	245	120
Sales representatives, wholesale and manufacturing, except technical and scientific products	193	170
Retail salespersons	182	218
Software developers	172	105
Trailer-tractor truck drivers	171	144
Business development and sales managers	147	96
Project managers	117	73
First-line supervisors of retail sales workers	103	111
Janitors and cleaners	81	63
Source: The Conference Board-Lightcast Help Wanted OnLine

Figure 4.

Top 10 industries by unique job postings in southwestern Idaho	Postings, Nov-25	Postings, Nov-24
General medical and surgical hospitals	452	561
Insurance agencies and brokerages	325	53
Direct health and medical insurance carriers	277	140
Limited-service restaurants	192	129
Engineering services	196	151
Supermarkets and other grocery (except convenience stores)	185	163
Other general government support	155	155
Semiconductor and related device manufacturing	120	179
All other telecommunications	86	68
Postal service workers	77	N/A
Source: The Conference Board-Lightcast Help Wanted OnLine

Regional news

• The Idaho Water Resource Board voted to approve 38 infrastructure grants across the state totaling $22.9 million. Southwestern Idaho received about 20% or $4.3 million, including the following entities and associated awards:
  • Boise City Canal Company – $108,400 King Hill Irrigation District – $2 million Valley Soil & Water Conservation District – $1 million Adams SWCD – $89,430 Eagleson Park Water User Association – $19,000 Mountain Home Irrigation District – $754,976 Boise Project Board of Control – $20,000 Boise Valley Irrigation Ditch Company – $95,794 City of Boise – $109,444
  • Water District 65 – $100,261

Source: Idaho Business Review

Ada County

• West Boise’s Orchard Park shopping center in Meridian is expanding with a food hall that includes Kneaders Bakery and Cafe, Mo’Bettahs Hawaiian Style Food and First Watch diner. The shopping center has a 46,000 daily vehicle count. According to leasing, real estate and property manager company TKO Commercial Real Estate, there are 160,000 residents living in about 28,000 homes within a five-mile radius of the shopping center. Winco Foods and the Meridian Library District are anchors that will continue to attract to the Collection, the name of the new development, with 40,000 square feet of space for retail and office use. Source: Idaho Business Review

• The West Ada School District will directly hire POST (Peace Officer Standards and Training) certified officers to add an extra layer of security to its 59 campuses. The 19 existing School Resource Officers (SROs) cannot fully cover all schools within the district and are employees of the local police department. The new employees will be referred to as ‘Campus Sentinels’ to differentiate from SROs. Source: Idaho Press

• Micron announced that come February 2026, the Crucial consumer product will no longer be available. The company is concentrating on its core enterprise and commercial segments while its two new fabrication plants are in design and construction stages at its Boise campus. The product line has been around for 29 years and the AI surge for computer chips has driven the decision to narrow the scope of business. Most personnel will be redeployed to another department, hence no layoff announcements for the Boise area. Source: KTVB News

• Blue Cross of Idaho announced it will consider a change in headquarters from its 1997-built Meridian compound. The company anticipates this will be a long process before finding the right company to take over the space. Meanwhile, they have hired TOK Commercial Real Estate to take stock of the current property while searching for a buyer and simultaneously seeking out a new location for the health care insurance mainstay. Source: KTVB News

Canyon County

• Caldwell is now home to the largest indoor soccer complex in the Treasure Valley, The Pitch. The 57,000 square foot facility is open year-round for players to develop skills and connect with other soccer athletes. There are four fields with two designated for four-on-four play and two for seven-on-seven play with the latter at 160 feet long and 75 feet wide. The two partners, Mike Villalovos and Alex Mitrovic, are hoping to positively elevate and expand the soccer culture of Idaho while bringing down its cost. Alex Mitrovi is a soccer trainer, originally hailing from Serbia, with experience at the collegiate, professional and international soccer levels. Saturday nights are open play for youth $5 admission. So far, 50 youth teams have registered for the first indoor soccer league session. Source: Idaho Press

• The College of Western Idaho (CWI) trustees approved the transfer of ownership for the Ford Idaho Center facility and its 90-acre site from the city of Nampa, whose council had previously approved the transfer. It will be owned and operated by CWI, which includes hosting the Snake River Stampede, concerts and other events in its 120,000 square foot arena. The outdoor amphitheater and equine facility will also be part of the operations. CWI commented that it will focus on using the space to expand academic programming for its students. Source: Idaho News 6

• Next fall, the College of Idaho in Caldwell will offer more programs — a net gain of three to its students as it halts new enrollment to three existing undergraduate majors and adds six new programs at both the undergraduate and master levels. Students already majoring in theater, communication arts and philosophy will finish their degrees with no new enrollment. The exodus of these programs was caused by declining student interest. New undergraduate programs include biochemistry, finance and criminology while data analytics, exercise science and accountancy will be options for masters’ degrees. This change will cause some resources to be shifted with 10 employees laid off, including five professors. The college recently raised $129 million through a fundraising campaign. The College of Idaho was founded in 1891 and is the state’s oldest private liberal arts college with about 1,100 students. Source: Idaho Education News

Elmore County

• The recount of election results for Elmore County left the results unchanged. State employees took eight hours to recount and tabulate 3,193 ballots. About 10% of the ballots were accidentally not tallied the first go round. The $6.2 million supplemental levy for the Mountain Home School District still passed and the voters deemed Bruneau Elementary School worthwhile to keep open. Source: Idaho Education News

Owyhee County

• The Homedale Chamber of Commerce hosted a ribbon cutting for the newly relocated Out West Family Medicine practice. Source: Owyhee Avalanche

Valley County

• Brundage Mountain opened its operations to full-time with the ski hill open seven days a week. Source: KTVB News

Regional openings

• The city of Boise hosted a ribbon cutting for the newly constructed Denton Apartments on the Boise Bench area. The affordable-housing, four-story complex has 190 units ranging from studios to three-bedroom layouts. In partnership with Our Path Home, a nonprofit, there are 19 units dedicated to families experiencing homelessness. The other 171 units serve those earning 80% of the area’s median income, which includes individuals earning $59,950 annually or less and families of four earning $85,600 annually or less. The complex’s amenities include a community room, a fitness area, indoor bike storage and an attached parking garage. Playground, picnic and a barbeque area comprise the outdoor space. The location near St. Alphonsus Regional Medical Center checks a box for those workers at the hospital or nearby retail to afford an apartment without busting the budget, along with cutting down on commuting time and costs.  The city used $6.7 million in funding from the Emergency Rental Assistance Program. Other partners include Hawkins Companies and Idaho Housing and Finance Association. Source: Idaho Press

• St. Alphonsus Regional Medical Center held a ribbon cutting in Caldwell at its new St. Alphonsus Caldwell Health Plaza. The 60,000 square-foot facility houses 30 physicians offering more than 15 specialties to the far-flung communities on Treasure Valley’s west side. The facility provides primary care specifically, leaving the emergency care component to the existing provider, West Valley Medical Center. Caldwell’s population has grown exponentially since the pandemic with 20.3% growth between July 2020 and July 2024, an increase of 12,345 to 73,088. Caldwell was ranked No. 51 in total growth across the nation’s cities from 2020 to 2024.  The health care industry mirrors population growth, which syncs with this new primary care facility. Source: Idaho Business Review

• The Potholder Café, a long-standing restaurant from Long Beach, California, opened its doors in the former Stuffed Olive which closed in Eagle last summer. This is its fifth restaurant and first in Idaho. The restaurant offers breakfast and lunch and a dog-friendly patio. Source: Idaho Statesman

• VietFood opened in the space formerly occupied by Lucky Palace Chinese Restaurant in Boise. Source: Idaho Statesman

Regional closings

• Spring Creek Brewing Company closed after five years in the Avimore subdivision. Source: Idaho Statesman

• Paris Banh Mi closed its doors in Meridian with a new restaurant already in the pipeline for opening in 2026. Source: Idaho Statesman

• Wild Root Café opened 10 years ago in downtown Boise and has temporarily shut down operations while evaluating whether to relaunch or stay closed. A co-owner shared that the other operations such as Saint Lawrence Gridiron, Rustica and Suite 104, will continue as is, albeit some hour changes may happen during the winter season. Staff will transition to the other facilities. Source: Idaho Statesman

• Happy Boba closed in Boise. Source: Idaho Statesman

• The Whale Tea, a franchise chain that originated in China, closed in Boise. Source: Idaho Statesman

---

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.