TWIN FALLS, Idaho (KLIX) New state figures show Idaho led the nation last year in over-the-year job growth. The Idaho Department of Labor released information showing jobs grew by 4% in 2016 resulting in 27,500 jobs. The department said that placed Idaho at the top for fastest growth for jobs in the county. All of the state's industry sectors had workforce gains.

Construction

  • Top of the pack industry with 4,500 new jobs. 11.3% more than the year before.

Financial

  • 1,300 jobs added in 2016 with 5.5%

All Other Sectors

  • Had more than 2% job growth.

This is how Idaho Department of Labor broke down the month to month job growth last year:

Month to month, Idaho was second in the nation in job growth at .7 percent between December 2016 to January 2017 with 4,900 new jobs. Construction jobs again led the way with an increase of 1,100, up 2.6 percent. Information followed with a 200 job increase, up 2.2 percent; financial activities added 500 jobs, up 1.4 percent; and education and health services jobs grew by 1,200, up 1.2 percent."

Most Needed Workers: Doctors, Nurses, and Truck Drivers

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The department says there was more than 19,200 job postings online in January according to the Conference Board. Health care jobs accounted for about 28% of the postings which included physicians, surgeons, psychiatrists, and other high level positions. 4,600 jobs are classified by the department as hard-to-fill and registered nurses and truck drivers, by volume, had the first and second spots.

The unemployment rate held the same for December and January at 3.6%. Officials say 2,400 people joined the workforce that topped out at 823,900 workers.

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