Manufacturing jobs loss continues; workforce looks good

Idaho’s manufacturing employment has spiraled downward for the past nine months, leaving experts concerned but optimistic when looking at the state’s overall economic picture.

“The goods-producing side of the economy is the one that seems to be slowing the most,” Labor department spokesman Bob Fick said.
Idaho had more than 7,000 fewer goods-producing jobs last month compared to April 2007, he said. Jobs in that sector include manufacturing, health care and technology. Most are prized for their high wages as well as their ability to create additional jobs in the economy.
According to the Idaho Department of Labor, the state’s seasonally adjusted labor force totaled 753,200 in April, including 23,100 unemployed people, for a 3.1 percent unemployment rate, the department said in a statement. Unemployment stood at 3 percent a month earlier and 2.7 percent in April 2007. The service sector added about 8,700 jobs. The non-farm jobs total increased by about 1,400, or a quarter percentage point, from April 2007.
That was the smallest April year-to-year gain in Idaho since the national economic lull in 2002, Fick said.
“There is no question that the economy is soft and is going to be soft for a while” in Idaho, he said. “There is some belief that the economy is more diverse than it ever has been and that it is going to be able to skate through if there is a national recession.”
Nationally, unemployment was 5 percent last month.
U.S. manufacturing employment continued to decline in April, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Commissioner Keith Hall said on May 2 in a statement to the Congressional Joint Economic Committee. Job losses were concentrated in durable-goods manufacturing, he said.
U.S. employment totaled 146.3 million in April, he said. Manufacturing accounted for 13,596,000 jobs (preliminary) compared to 13,642,000 in March.
Manufacturing hours fell from 41.2 to 40.9 hours nationwide during April, with reductions spread across durable and nondurable industries, Hall said. Factory overtime fell by one-tenth of an hour per week, Hall said.
Wages are not yet falling, despite cost-cutting measures including staff reductions in some sectors.
Citing the most recent Idaho Occupational Employment and Wage Survey based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Fick said the average hourly wage for all Idaho occupations was $16.73 as of early 2007 compared to $16.12 in early 2006. The median was $13.47 compared to $13.04 in 2006.
For all production occupations, Idaho’s average hourly wage was $13.57 in early 2007 and $13.04 a year earlier, he said. The median was $12.58 compared to $12.03 a year earlier.
Inflation is one factor in year-to-year changes in wages, Fick said.
Pete Crabb, finance and economics professor at Northwest Nazarene University in Nampa, said he expects stagnant wages, on fewer hires, through this year.
Wages can be “sticky” after job cuts, as remaining employees earn the same wage or even overtime pay, he said.
“I don’t see wages and salaries as poor,” Crabb said. “Just talking to our graduates this year, their salaries are pretty strong. The jobs are hard to come by, but the wages are good.”
Boise-based Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center recently announced job cuts and a plan to delay scheduled pay raises. Several Idaho daily newspapers have cut jobs or left positions vacant. Hewlett Packard said it is considering making changes in its Imaging and Printing Group, a major employer in Boise.
Hewlett Packard spokesperson Emma McCulloch would not give employment-related details.
“IPG is constantly looking at improving its business to better serve its customers,” she said in an e-mail. “With that, IPG is currently looking at areas of focus to drive growth. As always, IPG is proactive about shifting resource, if necessary, to focus and growth and drive customer value.”
In an interview, she said the company does not divulge staff counts by business unit or location. A published report said Hewlett Packard employs an estimated 3,500 in Boise.
Micron Technology Inc. last year cut more than 1,000 jobs in Boise as memory chip prices sagged. Spokesman Dan Francisco said in an e-mail that the company has no plan to delay scheduled pay increases.
“Micron’s focus is on retaining the right people to drive the company forward,” he said. “That means different things for different people, but the company is not planning at this point to delay pay increases.”