Area slowly climbing out of recession

SANDPOINT — The economy may be far from ideal, but there are still some silver linings.

According to new data from the Idaho Department of Labor, personal income rose in 37 of Idaho’s 44 counties in 2010, giving economists a better understanding of the state’s gradual improvement since the onset of the recession.

“This has been by no means a huge, dramatic recovery,” department spokesman Bob Fick said. “But it is a slow slog out of the recession.”

Bonner County was no exception, although the region didn’t perform as well as others. Compared to a state average of four percent, Bonner County’s total income increased by 1.7 percent in 2010. The average wage was $31,451, exactly the same as the previous year. For comparison, the state average income is $35,819.

Mill closures around that time period likely contributed to stagnant wages in 2010, according to Fick. The loss of those comparatively high-wage jobs neutralized growth from other areas of the job market.

“When you pull that kind of money out of the economy, this is what you’re going to see,” Fick said.

All this occurred despite the fact that the number of jobs declined the same year. In Bonner County, the total number fell by 3.5 percent to a total of 13,955. The same trend held true in most other counties around Idaho.

According to Fick, the latest data showed an increase in Bonner County non-wage income during 2010, which covered the income shed by lost jobs.

Those types of income included business profits, returns on investments and most prominently, transfer payments, which includes income from programs like Social Security or unemployment services.

Elsewhere in the state, business profits proved a dominating contributor to total income, showing a 13-percent statewide boost while wages only increased by 2.1 percent. Only eight counties — Butte, Camas, Caribou, Custer, Fremont, Latah, Minidoka and Power — featured wages that outperformed business profits. In the case of Camas, Caribou and Power counties, average wages simply fell less than business profits.

Of course, with 2012 already well under way, the economy has undergone a lot of changes since 2010. However, the data gives state economists valuable insights into how Idaho dealt with the recession.

“Things definitely seemed to get better all around by 2011,” Fick said.