Economic Indicators

Idaho’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for June was 3.7 percent – the third consecutive month the rate has remained unchanged.

Month to month, a slight uptick of only two-tenths of a percent left Idaho’s seasonally-adjusted nonfarm payrolls unchanged.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

Idaho’s Gross State Product

The total value of all the goods and services produced in Idaho grew 6.9 percent in 2013 to $62.25 billion, the third highest growth rate nationally. Adjusted for inflation, Idaho’s gross product exceeded $57 billion, up 4.1 percent for the fifth highest growth rate in the nation.

Idaho comparatively slow population growth also provided a 3 percent increase in per capita real gross state product to $35,375, ranking 50th among the states and the District of Columbia.

Growth in manufacturing, wholesale trade, financial services, agriculture, mining and leisure and recreation services accounted for the bulk of the gains.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis

Idaho Gasoline Prices

$2.48
per gallon, regular
07/22/2016

The average price for a gallon of regular fuel in Idaho dropped by $0.01 from the average one month ago. Nationally, the price fell $0.14 over the same time to the average of $2.18 per gallon. A year ago, Idaho’s average price was $3.05 per gallon, a 19 percent improvement and $0.57 savings per gallon.

Source: AAA Daily Fuel Gauge Report
Posted: 07/22/2016

Idaho's General Fund Revenues

Extremely strong individual income, corporate and sales tax collections in March augmented solid gains in February to put total tax collections for the first nine months of the fiscal year over $179 million ahead of the first three quarters of FY2014.

The 8.8 percent increase generated an $88 million surplus beyond what the Otter administration anticipated collecting during the first three quarters. The administration in January lowered its forecast for FY2015 fractionally from the August estimate to reflect slightly weaker housing starts, but the forecast remained just under $3 billion.

Revenue for FY2013 was 6.6 percent higher than FY2012, which was 6.3 percent ahead of FY2011. FY2014 was the fourth straight year of increased revenue after significant declines brought on by the recession.

Source: Idaho Division of Financial Management

Personal Income

Strong gains in both wages and business profits during the final three months of 2014 pushed Idaho’s total personal income to nearly $62 billion. The 5.3 percent growth rate was the sixth strongest in the nation and a point and a half more than the national growth rate. The government previously made significant upward revisions in both 2013 and 2012 personal income.

Business profits, driven by a 26 percent increase in farm profits in the final quarter, were up 11.4 percent to more than $7.9 billion on an annualized basis, the largest percentage increase from 2013 in the nation. Wages rose 4.9 percent to $26.6 billion, a bigger gain than all but 11 other states.

Nationally, wages were up 4.5 percent and business profits 3 percent. Idaho personal income was falling until mid-2009 as the recession gripped the state economy.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis

Per Capita Personal Income

Strong gains in both wages and business profits pushed Idaho’s per capita personal income up 3.8 percent to over $37,500, the 11th strongest growth in the nation. But that was not enough to change the state’s ranking, which remained 47th.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis

Idaho Exports

Idaho total exports were reported at $1.05 billion for the third quarter of this year, falling from the $1.07 billion reported for the second quarter. This 2.1 percent decline follows the 5.8 percent decrease for the previous quarter. Year-over-year, exports are down 10.2 percent.

Canada was Idaho’s biggest customer, receiving 20.2 percent of third quarter exports. China reclaimed second from Taiwan as the destination for Idaho’s exports, receiving 14.4 percent of total exports compared with Taiwan’s 13.0 percent.

Compared with the total exports of other U.S. states and territories, Idaho maintained its ranking of 42 it held in the second quarter, shipping out 0.3 percent of the nation’s exports, while Texas was the nation’s largest exporter with 17.1 percent and California was second with 11.0 percent.

Source: Global Trade Information Services Inc.

Tourism

The weakest February since the 2010 tempered tourism activity during the first quarter of 2015 after a record setting 2014. Hotel-motel receipts fell to $17.5 million in February, off 26 percent from a year earlier. Even a record-setting March at over $42 million not enough to boost first quarter receipts ahead of 2014.

Receipts for January, February and March totaled $87.4 million, down 2.4 percent from 2014’s record pace. Tourism has been estimated to account for about 5 percent of Idaho’s gross state product.

Source: Idaho Tax Commission