{"schema_version": 1, "id": "coeur-d-alene-id-msa/restaurant-industry/2026-09", "product": "Labor Market Pulse", "metro": {"geography_id": 200, "label": "Coeur d'Alene, ID MSA", "slug": "coeur-d-alene-id-msa"}, "focus_area": {"key": "restaurant_industry", "slug": "restaurant-industry", "label": "Restaurant Industry"}, "period": "2026-09", "public_after": "2026-09-01", "frozen_at": "2026-10-09T13:32:52.798378+00:00", "headline": "Coeur d'Alene restaurants cut management pay as postings thin out.", "headline_summary": "Metro GM pay fell to a $62,400 median and restaurant postings dropped to 128 in August from 206 a year ago, even as metro unemployment held at a tight 3.7%.", "key_indicators": [{"label": "Metro unemployment rate", "value": "3.7%", "context": "August 2026, unchanged from July"}, {"label": "Restaurant postings, Eastern Idaho", "value": "128", "context": "Down from 206 one year ago"}, {"label": "GM/Restaurant Manager advertised pay", "value": "$62,400", "context": "Metro median, down significantly YoY"}, {"label": "Idaho tipped cash wage", "value": "$3.35/hr", "context": "Flat; federal BOH minimum also frozen at $7.25"}], "takeaways": [{"headline": "Management pay is falling while hourly pay holds or rises.", "body": "Restaurant Manager/GM advertised pay dropped significantly to a $62,400 metro median and Assistant Manager pay fell to $42,628, even as Server pay rose to $36,101. Current conditions suggest operators are compressing salaried overhead while protecting front-of-house wage competitiveness \u2014 worth evaluating whether management compensation can still attract qualified GMs before Q4 volume hits."}, {"headline": "Posting volume collapse signals a quieter, not looser, labor market.", "body": "Eastern Idaho restaurant postings fell to 128 in August versus 206 a year earlier, a decline that tracks the statewide accommodation-and-food-services pattern rather than reduced demand for staff. Fewer postings combined with 3.7% metro unemployment suggests operators are holding headcount rather than finding it easier to hire \u2014 budget for slower fills heading into the holiday ramp."}, {"headline": "FOH and BOH wage paths are diverging structurally, not cyclically.", "body": "Idaho's $3.35 tipped cash wage leaves server economics tied to guest volume and tip flow, while the flat $7.25 federal minimum keeps line cook and prep wage floors stagnant even as Line Cook advertised pay ($39,520 median) stays flat nationally and locally. This divergence may widen labor cost as a share of revenue in kitchen-heavy concepts unless BOH pay gets reassessed independent of tipped-wage policy."}, {"headline": "Catering Manager pay decline may reflect a thinner events pipeline.", "body": "Catering Manager advertised pay fell significantly to a $39,520 metro median against a stable $50,960 national figure, a local-national gap wide enough to warrant scrutiny. Consider whether this reflects genuine demand softening for banquet and events roles locally or a temporary posting-mix artifact before resetting offers for Q4 holiday catering season."}], "local_conditions": "Coeur d'Alene MSA unemployment held at a tight 3.7% in August while restaurant job postings cooled alongside a 0.3% month-over-month dip in metro nonfarm employment, suggesting operators scaled back active recruiting rather than losing staff to competitors. North Idaho's split labor economics \u2014 a frozen $3.35 tipped cash wage against a flat $7.25 federal minimum for back-of-house roles \u2014 keeps front-of-house compensation leverage rising even as kitchen staffing costs stay structurally pinned.", "implications": "Thinner posting volume combined with a 3.7% unemployment floor indicates restaurant operators are no longer in open-ended hiring mode but still face a genuinely constrained applicant pool heading into Q4 seasonal ramp-up. Server pay moving up moderately while Assistant Manager and GM/Restaurant Manager advertised pay both fell significantly locally suggests budget reallocation toward tip-eligible front-of-house roles and tighter discipline on management compensation. Consider reviewing whether management pay compression is a deliberate cost-control move or an unintended signal that could weaken the manager pipeline right before holiday staffing peaks demand strong on-site leadership.", "looking_ahead": [{"category": "Expected", "body": "Holiday-season staffing ramp typically begins in October; with August postings already down sharply year-over-year, restaurants should expect longer fill times for both FOH and BOH roles than in 2025's comparable period."}, {"category": "Emerging pressure point", "body": "Management-tier advertised pay (GM, Assistant Manager) fell significantly this month across the metro \u2014 watch whether this compression persists into Q4 or reverses as operators compete for experienced holiday-season leadership."}, {"category": "Worth watching", "body": "Idaho's tipped cash wage remains frozen at $3.35 with no 2026 legislative movement, unlike Florida's scheduled step increases; any state-level wage policy discussion in the 2027 legislative session could reshape FOH cost structures well before it takes effect."}, {"category": "Early indicator", "body": "North Idaho unemployment at 4.56% in August runs meaningfully above the 3.6% statewide rate, a gap that may indicate a larger regional applicant pool than aggregate posting volume suggests \u2014 worth testing with targeted recruiting before assuming scarcity."}], "roles": [{"role": "Assistant Restaurant Manager", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 33014.5, "metro_p50": 42628.0, "metro_p75": 45977.0, "metro_trend_direction": "down", "metro_trend_magnitude": "significant", "national_p50": 39000.0, "national_trend_direction": "down", "national_trend_magnitude": "moderate"}, {"role": "Catering Manager", "data_scope": "state_rollup", "metro_p25": 33280.0, "metro_p50": 39520.0, "metro_p75": 41600.0, "metro_trend_direction": "down", "metro_trend_magnitude": "significant", "national_p50": 50960.0, "national_trend_direction": "stable", "national_trend_magnitude": "stable"}, {"role": "Crew", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 29791.0, "metro_p50": 33072.0, "metro_p75": 36129.5, "metro_trend_direction": "down", "metro_trend_magnitude": "moderate", "national_p50": 29839.0, "national_trend_direction": "stable", "national_trend_magnitude": "stable"}, {"role": "Line Cook", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 34816.0, "metro_p50": 39520.0, "metro_p75": 42640.0, "metro_trend_direction": "stable", "metro_trend_magnitude": "stable", "national_p50": 36826.0, "national_trend_direction": "stable", "national_trend_magnitude": "stable"}, {"role": "Restaurant Manager/General Manager", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 49273.0, "metro_p50": 62400.0, "metro_p75": 72500.0, "metro_trend_direction": "down", "metro_trend_magnitude": "significant", "national_p50": 59618.0, "national_trend_direction": "down", "national_trend_magnitude": "moderate"}, {"role": "Server", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 30271.75, "metro_p50": 36101.0, "metro_p75": 37772.0, "metro_trend_direction": "up", "metro_trend_magnitude": "moderate", "national_p50": 35012.0, "national_trend_direction": "stable", "national_trend_magnitude": "stable"}, {"role": "Shift Manager", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 30949.0, "metro_p50": 37440.0, "metro_p75": 39520.0, "metro_trend_direction": "stable", "metro_trend_magnitude": "stable", "national_p50": 32731.0, "national_trend_direction": "stable", "national_trend_magnitude": "stable"}], "industry_snapshot": [], "citations": [], "methodology": "Advertised pay from active employer job postings, not survey data. WageScape's median is calibrated to correct for spurious low-value postings: distribution analysis shows roughly the lowest 10% of raw values are erroneous entries, so the reported median is the 60th percentile of raw advertised pay.", "edition_label": "October 2026", "files": {"html": "coeur-d-alene-id-msa/restaurant-industry/2026-09.html", "pdf": "coeur-d-alene-id-msa/restaurant-industry/2026-09.pdf"}, "published_at": "2026-10-09T13:49:35.447315+00:00", "report_html_url": "https://reports.wagescape.com/archive/v1/editions/coeur-d-alene-id-msa/restaurant-industry/2026-09.html", "report_pdf_url": "https://reports.wagescape.com/archive/v1/editions/coeur-d-alene-id-msa/restaurant-industry/2026-09.pdf"}