Professional Career Solutions - Boise Job Market Report

Is Boise Still a Boomtown?

In the past few years, Boise has been a formidable competitor on the list of Top Ten Fastest-Growing Cities in the United States, ranking third nationally as recently as Fall 2005. This is especially surprising when you consider that Idaho’s unemployment rate is only 3.5 percent, compared to the national average of 5.1 percent. Here’s another astounding figure: some studies suggest as many as 95 percent of people that move to Idaho come here without jobs waiting for them. In short, they move to the area and hope for the best, beginning career searches or starting their own business ventures.

If you already reside in the Treasure Valley, you know what brings them here. Our quality of life, plus the relatively low cost of living compared to other parts of the country, combines to create a formula for growth.

Economists debate exactly what to expect in the next year, but all indicators suggest that our growth is likely to slow somewhat. An increase in interest rates will likely soften (but probably not squash) the red-hot real estate markets that have prompted people to take equity from their homes in other states and relocate to Boise.

The average annual income of people moving to the Boise area is estimated at $75,000. This means that at any given time, there is a substantial pool of individuals looking for professional-level work. The job-hunting challenges we see for these career professionals are based primarily on supply and demand. The higher the ratio of job seekers to available jobs, the less likely companies are going to be to advertise those positions. They simply don’t need to; they’ve already got a stack of unsolicited résumés. This has the natural effect of limiting the number of jobs found through the traditional job market: classified ads, Internet postings and recruiters.

To summarize: With the market expected to flatten in 2006, we expect the number of new jobs to decrease as well. However, the Boise area is still robust in terms of opportunity. A slight slowdown in growth should have a negligible impact on the ability of professional-level job candidates to find career positions. They simply have to work smarter to find the right employment possibilities. They must select and target companies—instead of waiting for the companies to come to them. That is where Professional Career Solutions can help, in crafting a proactive and effective search.