Analysis: Where were most COVID-19 job losses in Idaho?

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It’s been well advertised that Idaho has made a remarkable recovery from the economic downturn created by the COVID-19 pandemic, especially in terms of employment.

To gain a snapshot of which industries took the worst hit during the spring lockdown and the summer of the endless weeks at Idaho Rebound Stage Four, we looked at all initial unemployment claims filed with the Idaho Department of Labor between March 15 and Oct. 2. The hands-down loser for the most terminated jobs is the accommodation and food service sector, which should surprise no one. A total of 26,646 initial claims were filed in this sector between March 15 and Oct. 2 in Idaho.

The startling statistic hiding in the numbers is that the health care and social assistance sector took the number two spot for bleeding jobs, with 20,616 initial claims filed. For those paying attention to the health care industry, this is not a surprise. Idaho is actually better off than most other states in terms of how health care has fared to date. Outside of Idaho’s borders, over 20 hospitals have closed this year, already according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. All but one of those was rural.

Unsurprisingly, Retail took the number three spot for jobs lost, with 18,762 initial claims filed.

Many of those who lost jobs have since regained employment, so these numbers really a snapshot of what different sectors suffered during the worst of the lockdown.

Given that there were 2,955 initial claims and 9,144 continuing claims for the week ending on Oct. 3, there is still some lingering unhappiness in the job market. Based on the August unemployment statistics, the unemployment rate is nearly twice of what it was before the pandemic. Despite that comparison, Idaho is still faring much better than most of the nation with an unemployment rate half of the national average of 8.4%.