BOISE -- A federal report released Thursday shows that most Idaho counties saw their wages increase faster than the national average during 2006.

The U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis report indicates that the increases came at the same time Idaho's unemployment rate dropped to record lows.

Wages in Idaho's 11 metropolitan counties rose 5.6 percent from 2005 to 2006. That's a percentage point higher than the increases seen in metropolitan counties nationwide that year.

Wages in less urban counties were up 5.4 percent, more than a point higher than the national increase.

Statewide, the average Idaho wage was $32,225 in 2006.