These data come from the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey. They are based on averages of data collected in 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2021. These estimates cannot be used to say what is going on in any particular year in the period, only what the average value is over the full period. The Census Bureau's data.census.gov also provides 1-year estimates for counties with at least 65,000 people. We use 5-year estimates because they are available for all counties and allow comparison to other counties within the region.
The labor force participation rate is the proportion of people aged 16 years and older who are employed or available for work. It is one indication of whether more people might be drawn into the labor force if more jobs were available or wages were higher.
In Idaho from 2017-2021 . . .
- 887,977 people or 66 percent of those aged 16 years or older were in the labor force.
Of those in the labor force . . .
- 95 percent were employed (civilian labor force);
- 4 percent were unemployed (civilian labor force); and
- 1 percent were in the armed forces.