Moving to Caldwell from Portland in August 2008 was going to be a dream come true for Michael and Regina Allen.

The Allens, who were raised in Idaho, would be closer to family, especially the grandparents of their two children.

Michael, 39, was willing to take a 40 percent cut in pay to come back home and work as an operations manager in a paper and chemical company, a move that would allow him to spend more time with his family. Regina, 37, who had dropped out of the work force to raise her children five years ago, was ready to look for a job again.

Now, more than a year later, the dream has tarnished edges.

Michael Allen was laid off in June. Since then, he's looked for work in Canyon County, elsewhere in Idaho and out of state. He has applied for 700 jobs - and received just one face-to-face interview. "I don't even get a response," he said.

It took Regina a year to find a job - and then only because a neighbor happened to hear about the position. The job was work she wanted - working with elementary children in a classroom. But it is only 17.5 hours a week.

Joblessness in Canyon County continues to exceed state and national rates. Government data released Friday show 11.5 percent of the county's work force is unemployed, up half a percent since September, though still slightly lower than June's 12.1 percent peak.

Of the county's 82,029 workers, 9,396 were unemployed in October - up 50 percent in one year.

Canyon County has 10.8 percent of the state's work force but 18 percent of the 2,067 Idahoans who have exhausted their unemployment benefits, according to the Idaho Department of Labor.

"It's been a roller coaster," Michael Allen said.

In better days, thousands of Canyon County residents commuted to Boise, many to work at Micron Technology. Hundreds more had jobs in Nampa at MPC Computers. Others built homes, and house prices in Canyon County have long been lower than those in Ada County, making Canyon County attractive to many new-home buyers.

But Micron has halved its work force in recent years, laying off about 2,000 people just this year. MPC went bankrupt and closed last December. The housing market began collapsing in late 2006 and has yet to recover.

And jobs? "Sporadic and few," said Carmela Ramirez, manager of the Labor Department's Canyon County office in Caldwell.

Amber Peters knows what Ramirez means. Since losing her job a couple of weeks ago, the Nampa woman has visited the employment office a couple of times a week. A few days ago, she found 91 jobs advertised within a 50-mile radius of Boise. Only three came close to matching her background as a receptionist.

Peters said her funds are running out. She is looking at two jobs as a bank teller and one as a client-service representative for a tax-preparation company.

Meanwhile, Allen has widened his horizons, looking at possible jobs in shipping and as a forklift driver and janitor. He once made a six-figure salary but said he is willing to take a job for $7.25 an hour.

He's gotten no bites.

In the early days of unemployment, he talked with friends and used his network. Nothing.

Several weeks into joblessness, he fights a feeling of worthlessness he had never encountered from the time he started working in agricultural fields at age 12. The Allens had no credit-card debt and bought a home on a short sale to save money before Michael was laid off. Still, they say their savings are gone.

So he keeps looking. There is the possibility of a maintenance job in Boise. And a company in Alaska, where he worked some years ago, is showing interest. Both are good prospects. But one would take him away from extended family.

"It's painful," he said.

Bill Roberts: 377-6408