BOISE, Idaho — The Idaho Department of Labor says the state's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate has dropped for nine straight months, falling to 7.7 percent for April.
The rate fell two-tenths of a percentage point from March and was 1.2 percentage points below the post-recession high of 8.9 percent last July.
The department reports Idaho's labor force was 779,000 in April, up from 702,000 a year earlier. Construction, retail and trucking all expanded payrolls well above normal in April.
Last month, about 28,500 workers received $28.1 million in state and federal unemployment benefits, well below the 37,500 who shared $37 million in benefits during April 2011.
The national unemployment rate was 8.1 percent last month.