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<H5 style="FLOAT: right" class=details>May 14, 2011</H5></DIV>
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<H1> </H1>
<H1>Idaho in low wage trap</H1>
<H5 class=subhead>Former UI professor cites shortfalls in
recruiting, education</H5>
<DIV class="details nested grid-8"><SPAN>From Staff Reports<BR>The
Spokesman-Review </SPAN></DIV>
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<DIV class="tag-details details-top"><SPAN
style="MARGIN-RIGHT: 3px">Tags:</SPAN><SPAN><A
href="http://www.spokesman.com/tags/economic-development">economic development</A></SPAN><SPAN><A
href="http://www.spokesman.com/tags/idaho-economy">Idaho Economy</A></SPAN><SPAN><A
href="http://www.spokesman.com/tags/idaho-jobs">Idaho jobs</A></SPAN><SPAN><A
href="http://www.spokesman.com/tags/stephen-cooke">Stephen Cooke</A></SPAN><SPAN><A
href="http://www.spokesman.com/tags/university-of-idaho">University
of Idaho</A></SPAN> </DIV>
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<P>Idaho is caught in a low-skill, low-wage jobs trap, according to a new
analysis by retired University of Idaho agricultural economist
Stephen Cooke.</P>
<P>The professor, who retired in December, has studied the issue for the past
decade and reports that Idaho workers earn nearly $11,000 less than the
national average. </P>
<P>“Why are wages so low in Idaho? That’s the question I’m trying to answer,”
Cooke said.</P>
<P>The answer is a complex one, including a lack of priority on educating the
state’s work force, he found, and a failure to recruit enough highly paid jobs;
Colorado and Utah did things differently and fared far better.</P>
<P>Cooke notes that Idaho is adding jobs in low-wage sectors but losing them in
high-wage sectors, while Colorado is the opposite. Idaho’s big-three growing job
sectors are outpatient health care services, agriculture, and administrative
support services, including call centers.</P>
<P>Declining job sectors in Idaho include professional, scientific and technical
services, management of companies and enterprises, and mining.</P>
<P>“We found Idaho focuses its economic development on low-skill jobs, which
bring low wages,” Cooke said.</P>
<P>Most high-paying jobs require a college education, Cooke noted, but Idaho has
the largest “education gap” – the gap between the number of jobs that require a
college degree and the number of college graduates – among the five Rocky
Mountain states.</P>
<P>He noted that Utah gained during the recession because it continued to invest
in higher education, so it was ready with college graduates who could take
high-paying jobs when the economy improved.</P>
<P>Cooke will present a seminar about his work at the university in Moscow on
May 27. For more information, call
(208) 885-7694.</P></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV>
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