BOISE, Idaho (AP) — State economists are saying that by next year, Idaho employment should return to its levels before the Great Recession.

The Division of Financial Management says Idaho should have 670,000 jobs next year, up from 639,000 in 2013. The Idaho Statesman quotes a quarterly forecast issued Friday as saying the state finally is showing signs of recovery it's been waiting for since the recession's official end in 2009.

Personal income has grown an average of 2.4 percent a year since 2009 — about half as fast as it did before the recession. But the state forecast says personal income growth should average 3.7 percent a year through 2017. It predicts wages will increase by 2.4 percent this year and 2.9 percent in each of the next three years.

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