Idaho's unemployment rate swelled slightly in December, but Department of Labor analysts say the rise in unemployment has leveled off for the past few months. The jobless rate inched up a tenth of a percent to 9.2% last month as a record 69,012 Idaho workers were without jobs. Idaho remains slightly under the national unemployment rate of 10 percent.
The Department of Labor's Bob Uhlenkott said unemployment may still go up for a few months, but should drop down to between 8 or 9 percent by the middle of 2010. Uhlenkott told a panel of Idaho lawmakers the state may be showing signs of increased economic recovery, but said it's still too early to tell. He said Idaho's recession has been the deepest slowdown the state's felt since the 1940s.
Read the labor department's full news release on the unemployment rate.