Coronavirus’ shocking impact: Never before have so many Idahoans been out of work
You’ve heard that thousands of Idahoans have lost their jobs since the coronavirus crisis reached the state last month. But new data this week show that the losses are greater than anything Idaho has experienced in generations, if ever.
More than 77,000 people filed unemployment claims in the three weeks that ended Saturday, April 4, the Idaho Department of Labor reported Thursday. The department didn’t say so, but if its numbers are accurate, Idaho’s jobless rate is now about 11.5% — higher than the peak of the Great Recession, and higher than the state record set in the recession of 1982-‘83.
Never before have so many Idahoans been jobless. And the unemployment rate could go higher.
Nearly 31,000 initial claims for unemployment were filed by Idahoans for the week ending April 4, reflecting business closings and slowdowns as people stay home, nonessential businesses stay closed, and other businesses stay open but with reduced operations amid the pandemic. That’s fewer than the record 32,941 claims from the previous week, but not by much: It’s a 6.2% decrease.
More than half of the latest week’s claims, 57%, came from workers in accommodations and food services, health care and social assistance, and construction and retail trade. (Nationwide, more than three-fifths of all stores have closed, according to Commercial Property Executive, an industry news site.)
Idaho’s official unemployment rate won’t be announced until later this month. The latest official rate reported by the state was January’s 2.8%, reported on March 16, three days after Gov. Brad Little declared a state of emergency.
Employers were still struggling to fill jobs in January and February, with “help wanted” signs in stores everywhere. The department touted that Idaho had the nation’s second-fastest rate of job growth in the nation.
The March 16 report said 24,751 people in Idaho’s 890,197-member labor force were unemployed. Add those 24,751 to the 77,430 claims of the past three weeks, and the total, 102,181, amounts to 11.5% of those 890,197 Idahoans in the workforce.
Idaho’s peak jobless rate in the Great Recession was 9.5% in February 2009, an era when the state shed more than 50,000 jobs. The state’s all-time record jobless rate was 9.6% in December 1982 through February 1983, according to a presentation the Labor Department made to the Legislature in January 2011.
So many people have been laid off so fast that people calling the Labor Department to file for unemployment usually get busy signals.
Other revelations in the department’s Thursday report include:
▪ Unemployment payments totaled $5.6 million for the week ending March 28. That was 86% higher than the week before and 178% higher than the same week a year ago.
▪ One-third of the week’s new claims came from Southwest Idaho. Northern Idaho accounted for 13.1% and South Central had 8.5%.
▪ Boise had the largest share of the new claims, 31.1%, followed by Coeur d’Alene with 9.4% and Idaho Falls with 4.4%.
▪ Ada County, which had 5,235 unemployment claims in the week ending April 2, saw a decrease from the week before, when 7,141 claims were filed. Canyon County had 1,417 new claims, down from 1,570 the week before.
▪ Fifty-one percent of the new claims were filed by women, down from 60% the prior two weeks.
How to apply for unemployment in Idaho
The Idaho Department of Labor urges people with questions to review the department’s list of frequently asked questions and other filing tips online at www.labor.idaho.gov.
Any Idahoan who has been laid off or lost hours because of the coronavirus pandemic can apply for unemployment benefits. Since Congress passed the CARES Act, self-employed workers, those paid with 1099 or otherwise part of the gig economy may also be eligible for unemployment insurance benefits under the act.
The U.S. Department of Labor is preparing detailed guidance on how states should proceed. Once USDOL issues the guidance, it will take the states some time to develop and implement changes.
Idaho Department of Labor staffers are still waiting for additional guidance from the U.S. Department of Labor for things like the $600 supplement for gig economy workers. However, the supplement will be applied retroactively to any eligible claimants.
Little also signed a proclamation that waives the one-week waiting period for eligible applicants, considers claimants “available-for-work” if they are isolated, extends appeal deadlines and makes it easier for people laid off because of COVID-19 to qualify.
The Idaho Statesman has published a guide to applying for unemployment amid the coronavirus pandemic.
This story was originally published April 9, 2020 at 12:17 PM.
