BOISE, Idaho – Idaho’s unemployment insurance tax rates will decrease for 2019.

A growing economy, a consistent decrease in layoffs and a solvent Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund all contribute to a 6.6 percent decrease, according to the Idaho Department of Labor.

The base unemployment insurance tax rate will drop from 0.94 percent in 2018 to 0.878 for 2019, the department said in a news release on Monday. A new employer in Idaho will start with a tax rate of 1 percent – the lowest rate allowed by federal conformity requirements.

“We know Idaho employers want stability in the unemployment insurance tax rates they pay,” Director Melinda Smyser said in the prepared statement. “We are doing everything we can to help employers keep tax rates low.”

Smyser said the Unemployment Insurance Tax Relief Bill, passed unanimously by the Idaho Legislature, also is helping by lowering unemployment insurance tax rates by 32 percent over three years.

As a result, Idaho businesses will save $115 million and the state will maintain a trust fund balance that can withstand a recession similar to the Great Recession of 2007.

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