BOISE — Idaho's unemployment rate for September dropped to 2.7 percent.
The Idaho Department of Labor on Friday said that is the 13th consecutive month Idaho's unemployment rate has been at or below 3 percent. It is also well below the national unemployment rate, which dropped to 3.7 percent in September.
The department says the number of people in the state age 16 or older working or actively looking for work is at 853,076. That's essentially unchanged since July.
Of that total workforce, the department says 829,793 are employed, and 23,283 are seeking work.
The number of people counted as unemployed decreased by 729 from August to September.
Year over year, total nonfarm jobs grew by 2.7 percent -- or 19,200 jobs. The construction and manufacturing sectors grew more than 5 percent. All sectors saw some year-to-year gain, except for natural resources and information, which were unchanged.
However, monthly job losses were reported in four of Idaho's five metropolitan statistical areas: Boise, Coeur d'Alene, Idaho Falls, and Pocatello. Lewiston's nonfarm jobs increased by 300 from August to September.
The labor force participation rate for September was 63.6 percent. It dropped by one-tenth of a percentage point from the previous month, as Idaho's total population outpaced labor force growth. The labor force participation rate represents the percentage of people 16 to 64 years old who are working or actively looking for work.
