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Help wanted to fill 300 jobs Posted: Thursday, Oct 13, 2005 - 08:30:53 am PDT By R.J. COHN Staff writer
Commerce and Labor says demand ahead of supply SANDPOINT -- Loaded with more job listings that it has been able to fill, Sandpoint's Idaho Commerce and Labor on Pine Street is bursting with work for almost anyone who wants it.The problem is the office can't seem to find enough people in Bonner County to meet the demand. It's a predicament that office manager Bridgette Bradshaw-Fleer hasn't seen in nearly two decade she has been with the Department of Labor.
"This is by far the best job market I've seen here in 17 years. It shows that employment in Bonner County is more year-round than just something seasonal." Once posting some of the highest unemployment figures in Idaho, Bonner County has become something of a superstar in the past 12 months. Since 2003, the number of jobs listed by area employers with the Sandpoint office more than doubled, growing 119 percent while the number of job applicants fell 43 percent. Not only were nearly 1,000 more residents employed here than last year; the county's total employment grew the same rate as the state of Idaho's and more than twice as fast as the nation's 2 percent increase. Bradshaw-Fleer -- who has seen lean years when Sandpoint's Job Service office could only offer a smattering of low-paying positions -- couldn't be more pleased with the abundance of jobs employers have listed with her. She just wishes more applicants were taking advantage of them. "With so many available jobs we're trying to fill, it means there are great opportunities here for job seekers," she said. "It's been a tremendous boost for our economy." Her computer is loaded with 13 different listings for carpentry positions from entry-level to experienced journeymen ranging from $8 to $16 per hour, a dozen manufacturing jobs paying up to $10 per hour plus a large block of medical-related jobs from nursing to home health-care. "Starting wages have dramatically improved, and we're also seeing more professional and entry-level positions in accounting and management," she said. But it's construction-related jobs that Bradshaw-Fleer has noticed the largest demand for in the last year. "It's no secret that the housing market has helped fuel the construction boom," she said. "Employers can't keep up with it and are calling us for qualified workers. Our job listings haven't declined from last year. "We're also seeing employers attending more than one job fair in the region to get more applicants. That's very unusual for North Idaho. There's more competition now, which there wasn't years ago, and job seekers now can be a little pickier about who they work for." That's a luxury that North Idaho job applicants never really had before. Thanks to its continuing surge in its growing labor market, Bonner County's unemployment rate last year fell to the lowest level since 1989. By the summer of 2004, its jobless rate was as low as it has been since unemployment rates were first calculated for the county in 1970. In the last two years Bonner County has added more than 1,600 jobs, growing 12.5 percent. Records show that there has never been two successive years when the county has added such a high percentage of jobs. "The turnaround has been pretty spectacular," said regional labor economist Kathryn Tacke. "It just keeps continuing on a very impressive roll." The county's robust employment picture shows no sign of slowing down. Last month's unemployment rate fell tumbled a full percentage point from one year ago to 5.3 percent. "Years ago we thought 8 or 9 percent was real good for Bonner County," said Bradshaw-Fleer. "We were pretty proud when the jobless rate slipped under 10 percent." But now it's an entirely new ball game for Idaho Labor & Commerce. "We just want people to come down here to apply for these jobs," said Bradshaw-Fleer. "We have something for anyone who is looking for work." For information about job listings, either call Idaho Commerce & Labor at 263-7544, or log onto www.cl.idaho.gov. pamela wrote on Nov 25, 2007 2:50 PM: " The cost of living is comparable to Southern California. Your wages are very low in comparison. What a shame such good people should have a much lower standard of living. " dave wrote on Sep 21, 2007 8:03 AM: " i find this ammusing,experienced journeymen carpenters 16.00 hr. that is a joke,thanks to right to work and anti union in idaho. I am a retired union constuction worker from the midwest with a pension that far exceeds these so called good wages. " POST YOUR OPINION
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Bonner County Daily Bee
P.O. Box 159 / Sandpoint, Idaho 83864 / 208-263-9534
Bonner County Daily Bee Online is updated at 10am PST.
Jeff Hooper wrote on Jan 20, 2009 2:41 PM: