Boise metro employment in July 2026: 420,000 jobs and 3.5% unemployment

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported 420,000 nonfarm jobs in the Boise metropolitan area in July 2026, 1.0% above July 2025. The preliminary, not-seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate was 3.5%.

The labor force totaled 453,600 people, including 437,700 employed and 15,900 unemployed. These series are rounded by BLS and may not reconcile perfectly through subtraction. They also measure different concepts: the household survey describes workers, while the establishment survey counts payroll jobs.

Mining, logging, and construction employment reached 40,900, up 3.8% year over year. Professional and business services reached 63,500, up 1.9%. Manufacturing increased 1.6%, trade, transportation, and utilities increased 1.4%, and other services increased 2.1%.

The largest sectors were trade, transportation, and utilities at 80,300 jobs; education and health services at 67,800; and professional and business services at 63,500. Sector size matters alongside growth rate because a small category can post a large percentage change without moving the overall labor market very far.

Information employment declined 6.5% year over year to 4,300 jobs, and leisure and hospitality declined 1.9% to 42,300. Education and health services and government each grew only 0.4%. The metro therefore added payroll employment overall, but the gains were uneven.

That mix can affect housing demand differently by wage level, commute pattern, household stability, and neighborhood. A regional job total cannot show whether a particular rent band or sales segment is becoming easier or harder for households to carry.

For housing, the labor series establishes a regional demand condition. A property-level review still needs income and rent alignment, current listings, concessions, vacancy, turnover, planned supply, employer access, and a clear definition of the likely resident or buyer pool consistent with fair-housing law.

For land and commercial property, sector employment can help frame exposure to construction, logistics, health care, business services, hospitality, and government. It does not replace tenant research, absorption evidence, construction-cost data, or the economics of a specific site.

This brief uses the BLS Boise metropolitan Economy at a Glance table extracted August 28, 2026. July 2026 figures are preliminary and not seasonally adjusted. BLS can revise the series as additional employer reports arrive and as benchmark updates are incorporated.

The metropolitan geography is broader than Boise and does not describe one city, neighborhood, employer, wage band, or household. Atlas does not assign the metro unemployment rate to an individual municipality or use one month of data as a forecast.