All year, much of the U.S. has braced for an economic recession, wary of tariffs, federal layoffs, and general cost-of-living. But when it comes to the job market, how has that actually played out in Idaho?
Steady & Low Unemployment
After the initial pandemic crash of 2020 that led to the highest rates of unemployment so far in the 21st century, Idaho has hovered around a remarkably stable and low unemployment rate.
The state’s most recent data from August shows a 3.7% unemployment rate — which is identical to where it stood a year prior.
In Ada County and Boise, the rate is a tad lower at 3.4% unemployment.
But What About Affordability?
Judging by the unemployment rate alone, the job market looks healthy. But a key imbalanced factor casts a big shadow on the unemployment success.
That imbalance is, of course, in the cost of housing. Wages are increasing in Idaho, but still trailing far behind housing prices. The long-held budgetary benchmark is that a household should spend no more than 30% of its income on housing.
It’s been a long time since Boiseans were making enough money to really afford to buy a home, and to live in the city they work in and that they love.
Frankie Barnhill, City Cast Boise Executive Producer
According to Atlanta Federal Reserve Data, Boise budgets fit comfortably underneath that 30% market from late 2008 to 2018. But the median home price in Boise started soaring out of that “affordability threshold” in January 2021, and since April 2022 have bounced between 47% and a staggering 53%.
In short, over the last two years a Boisean earning the median income has had to put one out of every two dollars towards buying a home.
