Posted: May 2, 2008  14:10

Boundary County's spiraling jobless rate showed a robust turnaround in Idaho's slumping economy hit with the highest unemployment rate the state has weathered in nearly two years.

The county's seasonally adjusted jobless rate in April tumbled nearly a full percentage point to 6.4 percent.

With businesses across the nation handing out pink slips as they cope with an economy teetering on the edge of a recession, Boundary County's eight-tenths of a percentage point decline in its unemployment rate couldn't come at a better time.

After posting the third highest unemployment rate in the state at 7.2 percent in March, the county surged forward with a dramatic rebound in April.

"It's an incredible turnaround for Boundary County," said regional economist Kathryn Tacke of Idaho Department of Labor. "It's good to know that unemployment last month was more weather-related than anything else. Things in general are looking better. Construction projects are proceeding, farmers and related workers are back in the field, and we're seeing the timber industry starting to show improvement."

The county's civilian labor force grew to 4,201, up 132 from the previous month, while the number of employed persons increased to 3,933.

One year ago, however, Boundary County's jobless rate had fallen to 5.7 percent and had 132 more employed workers.

Statewide, Idaho's economy continued slowing in April as the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate edged up a tenth to 3.1 percent from March. For the first time in 5½ years, fewer people were working across the state than a year earlier. A little more than 23,000 people in April across Idaho were unemployed, 2,500 more people off the job than a year ago.