Sam Wolkenhauer, Post Falls-based regional labor economist with the Idaho Department of Labor, expects Kootenai County’s economic growth will slow slightly in 2018.

“But that doesn’t mean there’s anything wrong with the economy,” Wolkenhauer says. “A lower growth forecast isn’t the same as forecasting a downturn.”

He says Kootenai County had good job growth in 2017, although it wasn’t as strong as recent years.

“Most skilled labor that was available has found re-employment,” Wolkenhauer says. “If you look back at job fairs for the past year … the number of jobs employers had to offer significantly outnumbered the job seekers in attendance. Five years ago, the opposite dynamic was the case.”

Wolkenhauer says health care is the largest and fastest-growing industry in the county, and there’s a growing demand for nurses and technicians.

He anticipates advanced manufacturing also will remain strong.

The construction industry in Kootenai County also is robust, Wolkenhauer says, although that industry’s top challenge, too, is to attract skilled trade workers.

Kootenai County’s unemployment rate for October was 3.6 percent, down from 4.5 percent a year earlier. Steve Wilson, president and CEO of the Coeur d’Alene Chamber of Commerce, shares the sentiments of economic analyst and part-time Coeur d’Alene resident John Mitchell, who said at a recent economic forum there, “Maybe this is as good as it gets.”

Some business leaders have bemoaned that fact that annual growth since the start of the current economic recovery has only been around 2 percent, Wilson says.

“Past recoveries had jumped more dramatically,” he says. “But we’re in our 10th year of slow and steady growth. Maybe that ain’t so bad.”

The biggest current limiting factor for economic growth is the challenge of meeting employment demands, he says, adding, “Almost anyone in the retail and service industries is hiring.”

Wilson predicts the tourism industry will continue to benefit from a healthy economy as long as people have discretionary spending capabilities and gas and aircraft fuel prices remain stable.

In the convention sector, advanced bookings are solid two to three years out, he says, “The (Coeur d’Alene) Resort had an incredibly good year and they see no downturn.”

The portion of the hospitality sector that doesn’t depend on conventions will be subject to more immediate tourism trends, he says.

Ignite cda anticipates an active 2018, says Tony Berns, executive director of Coeur d’Alene’s urban renewal agency.

Ignite cda currently has a call out for proposals for projects in its Midtown property on Fourth Street north of downtown Coeur d’Alene. Proposals are due in January.

“We hope to have several to choose from to get something going in 2018,” Berns says. “We’re fairly open to anything that would add vitality to the Midtown area.”

In an ongoing ignite cda project, construction will start early in the year on the $7.3 million, 360-stall parking garage that’s intended to be a catalyst for further development in the city’s central business district.