Kootenai County's unemployment rate rose slightly to 11.6 percent in June, according to a report released this morning by the Idaho Department of Labor.

The number is up from 11.5 percent in May.

Coeur d'Alene's rate rose to 12.2 percent in June from 11.4 in May, while Post Falls' increased to 12.9 from 12.7.

Benewah County's rate decreased to 14.7 percent from 15.

Idaho's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate held steady at 9.4 percent in June, but the state's labor force experienced its first decline in 10 months as businesses created fewer jobs than normal and more than 1,800 workers gave up looking for work or left the state.

 Job growth also remained flat at .6 percent, the second lowest May-to-June growth rate in 30 years. The lowest June growth rate was in 2010 at .3 percent.

 While the number of new hires by employers hit its highest monthly total since October 2008 at over 15,000, it was still 7,000 below June's pre-recession average.

Construction and financial services generated jobs ahead of the five-year average, but at slightly less than 30,000 total jobs, construction remained 16,000 below its 2006 peak.

 Retail sales met expectations, but other sectors of Idaho's economy underperformed including health care. Manufacturing was held back by the closure of the XL Four Star Beef packing plant in Nampa, which idled 500 workers. 

Idaho's private sector employers increased their payrolls by 1.6 percent, above the growth rate for the last three years but well below the 2.3 percent average June growth prior to the recession.

 Government typically sheds employees in June, but this year's 2 percent decline - at nearly twice the average June decline before the recession - reflects the recession's delayed impact on the public sector.

Over 30,000 jobless workers collected $28.8 million in unemployment benefits in June, down from more than 38,000 receiving $41.7 million in benefits in June of last year. More than 10,600 Idaho workers have exhausted all benefits without finding jobs.

Job growth has remained stagnant for Idaho for the last year, running between .6 percent above to .6 percent below year-earlier levels. Total nonfarm jobs at 610,100 for June were 0.2 percent, or 1,000, below June 2010.

Twenty-two of Idaho's 44 counties recorded lower rates in June than May while 21 saw rates rise. Seventeen primarily rural counties posted double-digit unemployment rates in June, unchanged from May.