How do you get unemployment in Idaho?
The Idaho Department of Labor pays $72 to $624 a week to workers out of work, or short of hours, through no fault of their own. You file on its Claimant Portal during the week your job ends or your hours are cut.
Ask a claim specialist: 208-332-8942
The $624 top rate applies to claims filed from the first full week of January 2026 until the first full week of January 2027. Idaho employers pay for the program through a tax, and nothing comes out of a worker's paycheck for it.
Your first steps
- Gather your work history for the past 2 years, your Social Security number, and your driver's license. The full list is on the filing page.
- Sign in to the Claimant Portal through ID.me and file before Saturday at midnight. A week you have not applied in by then counts neither as your waiting week nor as a payable week.
- Starting the Sunday after you apply, file your first weekly certification. It covers your unpaid waiting week, which earns credit only if you meet every eligibility rule in it.
- Watch the mail for the Claimant Guide and your Monetary Determination, which states your weekly and total benefit amount.
No internet? A local Labor office takes your claim in person. Stuck at the ID.me check? Bring your ID, your Social Security card, and proof of your address to a local office instead.
Who qualifies
On wages, you need at least $1,872 in one quarter of your base period and total base-period wages of at least 1 1/4 times that quarter. The reason the job ended matters too: a layoff for lack of work meets this test, and when the reason is anything else, the Department investigates and sends you a written decision. Who qualifies in Idaho covers the tests in full.
Finding a local office
Local Labor offices are open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, except observed holidays, and each mobile location keeps its own days and hours. Offices and phone numbers lists each one.
Idaho unemployment guides
- How to fileWhen to file, what to have ready, and each step on the Claimant Portal
- Who qualifiesThe wage tests, the reasons for leaving, and the weekly availability rules
- How much it paysThe 1/26 formula, the $624 cap, part-time pay, severance, and pensions
- How long it lastsThe 10 to 26 week table, the benefit year, and training extension benefits
- Weekly claims and work searchThe weekly certification, the waiting week, payment, and work search
- Denials, appeals, and overpaymentsThe 14-day deadline, the hearing, the Industrial Commission, and overpayments
- TaxesFederal and Idaho income tax, 10% withholding, and your 1099-G
- Offices and phone numbersWhich Department number to call, office hours, and the mobile location schedule
- DisabilitySSDI and SSI, vocational rehabilitation, workers' compensation, and your claim
- JobsIdahoWorks, free job help at offices, and training you can take while claiming
- Questions and answersShort answers on filing, extensions, health coverage, food aid, and 211