Bannock County’s unemployment rate decline of two-tenths of a percent outpaced the Gem State’s overall decline of one-tenth of a percent, but both were at 7.7 percent in the preliminary figures for June released on Tuesday.

    Bannock County’s revised May unemployment rate was 7.9 percent while Idaho stood at 7.8 percent. Although preliminary June figures show Bannock County has more than 100 fewer unemployed people, it also shows a drop in the overall labor pool of more than 300 people, from 42,007 in May’s revised figures to 41,661 in June’s preliminary numbers.

    The June figures are half a percent lower than a year earlier when Bannock County’s unemployment rate was 8.2 percent. Idaho’s unemployment rate is down more than a percent during the past year from 8.8 percent a year ago to June’s 7.7 percent.

    The rise in total employment in Idaho is the 12th straight month of increases but the increase was the fewest so far this year, only increasing by 500 from May to June, well below the average increase of 2,200 a month prior to June.

    In Bannock County, although the unemployment rate declined and fewer people were unemployed, fewer people were actually working as well, just 38,448 in June compared with 38,679 in May.

    With Idaho’s total employment at nearly 722,000 it is still the highest since July 2008. The number of unemployed fell 700 to 59,900. The last time fewer workers were without jobs was August 2009.

    June’s report shows Idaho’s rate has been relatively stable for the past three months, returning to the April level of 7.7 percent after moving up a notch to 7.8 percent in May. The national rate held steady in June at 8.2 percent after rising a tenth in May from 8.1 percent in April. Idaho’s rate has been below the national rate for 10 years.

    A year earlier, the unemployment rate was 8.8 percent, and more than 68,000 people were out of work. Just over 701,000 Idahoans had jobs.

    Nonfarm jobs, which account for over 90 percent of Idaho’s employment, totaled over 618,000, still well below the 2007 peak of nearly 670,000 but 1.2 percent above June 2011. Nonfarm job monthly totals were below year-earlier levels for nearly three years through 2010 and then hovered just above through most of 2011. But during the first half of 2012, jobs have been running around 1 percent ahead of 2011, a sign that economic recovery may have finally taken hold.

    New jobs during June in construction, professional and business services and hotels and restaurants were offset by declines in state and local government, a slight drop in private education and no seasonal hiring in food processing, wholesale trade and information services.

    Employers reported hiring over 21,000 workers in June, the highest one-month total since mid-2007 and only the seventh month in the last decade that employers reported over 21,000 new hires, which include replacement workers as well as new ones. Some of the significant increase in new hires could have resulted from a spring media campaign urging employers to comply with the law requiring all new hires to be reported within 20 days of hiring.

    The Conference Board, a Washington, D.C. business think tank, estimates five unemployed workers for every two posted job openings in Idaho, down dramatically from nine workers for every two openings in late 2009 and the lowest ratio since November 2008.

    Payments from the Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund have also declined dramatically. Fewer than 21,000 workers received $19.7 million in benefits during June, down from the over 30,000 who received $28.8 million in June 2011.

    Only nine rural counties recorded double-digit unemployment rates in June, down from 12 in May. The highest rate was 13.2 percent in resource-dependent Adams County. A year ago 16 counties were in double digits with the high rate of 18.2 percent in Adams County.

    Thirty-six of the 44 counties saw lower jobless rates in June than May as did all five metropolitan areas. Six counties had rates under 6 percent compared to four in May. The lowest rate was 4.2 percent in Franklin County.