POCATELLO — As 2013 begins, there are thousands of Idaho workers still looking for jobs and those who have been unemployed for a extended period of time ran out of assistance last week.

    According to the Idaho Department of Labor, federal extended unemployment benefits ended for about 6,300 Idaho residents last week. The average weekly payments were $243. Extensions to regular state benefits were extended in 2008 to limit the impact of the recession. Normal state unemployment benefits only last 10 to 26 weeks.

    Supervisor Matt Thomsen of the Pocatello Department of Labor office estimates about 500 people in Southeast Idaho were still on extended unemployment status. Times will be more difficult for them, but Thomsen said he’s optimistic about the state’s overall employment picture.

    “There has been an increase in the number of opportunities in the area,” Thomsen said.

    In Pocatello, Winco will be hiring more people in preparation for its new grocery store opening and Allstate is still moving toward reaching its 500 person employment goal.

    “They migrated a group to the Pocatello call center to handle roadside assistance,” Thomsen said about Allstate.

    In addition, he said ON Semi-conductor and Monsanto have increased employment.

    The start of 2013 is a far cry from 2008 which was one year after Thomsen, an Idaho State University graduate, first became a supervisor for the Department of Labor. He called that first year of the great recession a baptism of fire.

    “Things were tough,” Thomsen said, adding they have also changed.

    “I’m somewhat optimistic because we’re seeing additional opportunities,” he said.

    There are still obstacles for many of those who were on extended unemployment benefits, many of whom were more highly educated and specialized — but unwilling to leave Southeast Idaho.

    “People want to stay in this part of the state,” Thomsen said.

    Thomsen said employers were reluctant to hire over-qualified people because of the fear they would leave the job within a month or two when they found something better.

    Since the federal extension program began, 95,000 Idaho workers have shared $900 million in federally financed extended benefits. Moody’s Economy.com estimates that every dollar paid in extended unemployment benefits generates $1.61 in economic activity because benefit checks are immediately spent locally on rent, utilities, food, clothes for the family and other necessities.

    About $1.3 billion has been paid in regular state benefits since the beginning of 2008, a month after the recession began.

      At their peak, extended benefits added a maximum of 27 to 73 weeks of payments to the 10 to 26 weeks provided under the traditional state benefit program. As Idaho’s jobless rate has declined, the extension has been trimmed back three times in 2012 so that the maximum additional payments were 14 to 37 weeks, and all extended benefits have now stopped.

    “Idaho’s unemployment rate has dropped dramatically over the past 16 months — from 8.9 percent to 6.8 percent in November,” Deputy Director John McAllister of the Idaho Department of Labor said. “But competition for available jobs remains stiff, and consultants at the Labor Department’s 25 local offices can help workers improve their résumés and hone their interview skills to get an edge on securing that new job.”

    Thomsen said the state has an excellent statewide system for helping people find work and the Pocatello office is part of that system. He said he realizes there are challenges ahead.

    “People are still out there searching for work,” Thomsen said.