Idaho’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate rose a tenth of a percentage point in May, breaking a string of nine straight monthly declines as hiring slowed in much of the service sector while optimism about employment prospects pushed more job seekers into the labor market.

Kootenai County's rate rose to 9.7 percent in May, up from 8.9 percent.

Coeur d'Alene's rate edged to 10.2 percent, up from 9 percent in April. 

But even though the unemployment rate rose to 7.8 percent, the number of Idaho workers with jobs jumped over 721,000 for the first time since mid-2008, and total unemployment remained under 61,000 for the second month in a row.

The increase in Idaho’s rate mirrored the tenth-of-a-point increase in the national rate to 8.2 percent. Idaho’s rate has been below the national rate for nearly 11 years.

Idaho’s unemployment fell from a post-recession high of 8.9 percent in July 2011 to 7.7 percent in April before finally rising a tenth in May to 7.8 percent. Almost 3,000 more people entered the labor force last month, pushing it to a record 782,000.

Idaho employers increased their payrolls 1 percent in May, but that was short of the five-year average April-May increase of 1.3 percent. The slip came in the service sector, which accounts for four of every five jobs. While hiring in trade and information exceeded the average, all other service sectors fell short by enough to offset slightly more hiring than normal in goods production including construction.

New hires, which include replacement workers as well as additional workers, fell slightly from April but remained the strongest May since 2008. The May report from the Conference Board, the Washington, D.C.-based business think tank, estimated fewer than three unemployed workers for every posted job in Idaho, the first time since 2008 that the ratio has been under three for two straight months.

A year ago total employment was under 702,000 and 67,500 workers were unemployed.

A dozen primarily rural counties posted May unemployment rates in double digits, up from nine in April, and both Caldwell and Coeur d’Alene moved back over the 10 percent plateau after dropping below double-digits in April.

Franklin and Camas counties were the only ones that posted lower jobless rates in May than in April.

Clearwater County recorded the highest rate at 15 percent. The lowest rate was 4.3 percent in Franklin County, which was one of four counties under 6 percent. Nine counties had rates below 6 percent in April.