Here's some positive economic news: The Idaho Department of Labor reports that a surge in hiring across most of the economy dropped Idaho's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate to 9.1 percent in April, a drop of three-tenths of a percentage point from March and the largest one-month decline since 1983. "April was the second straight month Idaho's jobless rate declined, bucking the national rate which jumped two-tenths of a percent to 9.9 percent, the department reported. "Until March, Idaho’s rate had climbed steadily from a record low 2.7 percent in March 2007 to 9.5 percent this February." You can read the full announcement here.

---

---