Coeur d'Alene's calm unemployment rate hides a cooling labor market.
3.7%
Metro unemployment rate
August 2026, unchanged from July; matches Idaho statewide
-0.3% m/m
Metro nonfarm payrolls
+0.3% year-over-year — growth has flattened
4.56%
Northern Idaho unemployment
vs 3.6% Idaho statewide, a persistent regional gap
29,000 jobs
National payroll growth
September, vs 45,000 12-month average; prior months revised down 60,000
This Month's Takeaways
01
Unemployment steadiness is masking a quieter payroll contraction.
Coeur d'Alene's 3.7% August rate looks calm, but nonfarm employment actually fell 0.3% month-over-month, a sign the labor market may be flattening after two exceptional growth years rather than continuing to expand.
02
Goods-movement pay drops point to a freight and construction slowdown.
CDL truck driver advertised pay fell significantly (down to $70,834 from a national $78,000 median) and construction laborer pay dropped sharply, patterns consistent with softer regional building and shipping activity rather than a broad-based downturn.
03
Healthcare and services remain the metro's demand floor.
Registered nurses and home health aides continue to top local job-posting demand even as overall hiring cools, underscoring that population growth and aging demographics are sustaining one sector while goods-producing industries soften.
04
Idaho's wage-growth story doesn't fully reach Coeur d'Alene.
Idaho ranks third nationally for wage growth at 4.7%, yet several metro roles — delivery driver, manufacturing assembler, HR generalist, account manager — show falling advertised pay, suggesting the state's wage strength is unevenly distributed across North Idaho's sectors.
Local Economic Conditions
Coeur d'Alene's unemployment rate held at 3.7% in August, but that stability masks a labor force edging down year-over-year and nonfarm payrolls contracting 0.3% month-over-month even as they posted modest 0.3% annual growth — a metro cooling from a two-year hiring boom rather than entering distress. Healthcare, retail, and hospitality continue to anchor job postings, with registered nurses and retail roles in persistent demand even as truck driver and construction laborer advertised pay fall sharply, consistent with softer freight and building activity statewide.
Open Threads in the Data
Divergent signals — steady unemployment alongside falling nonfarm payrolls and declining advertised wages in transportation and construction — suggest a metro economy in a holding pattern rather than clear expansion or contraction, which matters for timing on capital projects, commercial space decisions, and public investment planning. Healthcare and services remain the structural backbone of local demand, while goods-movement and building trades show the clearest signs of a slowdown that could affect permitting activity and freight volumes. Current conditions suggest monitoring local building-permit and freight data alongside labor figures before drawing conclusions about the direction of the broader business climate.
Advertised Pay Indicators · WageScape Benchmark 25 Jobs
Job postings data for the Coeur d'Alene, ID MSA metro — median advertised pay, its recent trend, and the number of active postings behind each figure. Jobs are grouped for readability and are not the same as the 10 sector classifications on the next page. For additional job detail contact WageScape.
Retail Trade
| Retail Sales Associate |
$35,651 |
↓ Moderate decline |
615 |
| Retail Cashier |
$34,155 |
→ Stable |
408 |
Transportation & Warehousing
| Warehouse/Fulfillment Associate |
$40,560 |
↑ Moderate increase |
98 |
| CDL Truck Driver |
$70,834 |
↓ Significant decline |
538 |
| Delivery Driver |
$37,440 |
↓ Moderate decline |
500 |
| Warehouse Manager |
$70,000 |
Limited local postings |
1 |
Construction
| Construction Laborer |
$43,680 |
↓ Significant decline |
143 |
Construction/Skilled Trades
| Electrician |
$90,896 |
→ Stable |
89 |
| HVAC Technician |
$69,876 |
↑ Moderate increase |
182 |
Manufacturing
| Manufacturing Production Worker/Assembler |
$39,520 |
↓ Moderate decline |
150 |
Cross-Sector
| Customer Service Representative |
$39,992 |
→ Stable |
117 |
| Operations Manager |
— |
Limited local postings |
— |
Leisure & Hospitality
| Food Service Worker |
$35,984 |
↓ Moderate decline |
23 |
Healthcare
| Certified Nursing Assistant / Home Health Aide |
$44,720 |
→ Stable |
529 |
| Registered Nurse |
$99,986 |
→ Stable |
704 |
Admin/Office Support
| Administrative Assistant/Office Clerk |
$42,615 |
→ Stable |
236 |
Information/Technology
| Software Engineer |
$125,347 |
↑ Moderate increase |
12 |
| Data Engineer |
$120,596 |
↓ Moderate decline |
548 |
Professional & Business Services
| Accountant |
$75,000 |
↑ Moderate increase |
54 |
| HR Generalist/Manager |
$67,478 |
↓ Moderate decline |
23 |
| Marketing Specialist |
— |
Limited local postings |
— |
| Business Analyst |
$81,739 |
↑ Significant increase |
12 |
Finance & Insurance
| Financial Analyst |
$93,103 |
→ Stable |
601 |
Government/Education
| Elementary/Secondary School Teacher |
$44,335 |
↑ Significant increase |
167 |
Cross-Sector Sales
| Account Manager |
$62,500 |
↓ Significant decline |
21 |
Industry Snapshot · Coeur d'Alene, ID MSA
Advertised pay and job-posting trends across the whole metro economy, rolled up by employer industry — not just the bellwether roles above.
| Sector |
Median Pay Change |
Job Postings Change |
| Construction |
→ −0.5% |
↑ +107.3% |
| Manufacturing |
↑ +10.0% |
↑ +92.5% |
| Retail Trade |
↓ −5.5% |
↑ +62.2% |
| Transportation, Warehousing & Utilities |
↓ −12.4% |
↑ +193.6% |
| Information |
↑ +3.2% |
↑ +48.0% |
| Financial Activities |
↓ −3.2% |
↑ +114.7% |
| Professional & Business Services |
→ −2.8% |
↑ +95.9% |
| Education & Health Services |
↑ +22.2% |
↑ +27.9% |
| Leisure & Hospitality |
→ −1.4% |
↑ +44.0% |
| Government |
↑ +71.4% |
↑ +1103.3% |
Looking Ahead · Next 30–60 Days
Worth watching
Northern Idaho's unemployment rate (4.56% in August) runs well above the state's 3.6-3.7%, a gap that could widen if construction and transportation softness persists into the fall building season.
Early indicator
Truck-driver postings more than doubled year-over-year in Northern Idaho even as advertised pay fell, an unusual combination worth tracking as a sign of either employer caution on rates or a genuine oversupply of applicants.
Potential inflection point
National payroll growth slowed sharply to 29,000 in September with downward revisions to prior months; if that national cooling persists, Coeur d'Alene's already-flat August payrolls could tip toward outright contraction.
Expected
Public-sector hiring events (library job fairs featuring county government, school districts, and North Idaho College) suggest continued public-sector payroll stability locally, a contrast to the national government job losses reported for September.
Sources & Methodology
Pay and hiring data provided by WageScape. See every source cited in this report, with links →
Advertised pay reflects the pay ranges employers publish in active job postings in this metro, not survey or payroll data. Pay trends compare the current period with the prior period for the same metro and role. Sector figures group postings by the employer's industry classification; sectors with limited classified postings are marked as such rather than estimated. This briefing is independent of, and complements, official statistics from the BLS and state labor market information offices.
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