Utah's population boom apparently is finally being matched by the roar of its economy.

So says Mark Knold, senior economist for the Utah Department of Workforce Services, which on Tuesday released figures showing Utah's nonfarm wage and salaried jobs growing at 3.7 percent from a year ago — a rate second only to Nevada in the United States.

Meanwhile, Utah's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in February was 4.8 percent, down 0.6 of a percentage point from a year earlier and 0.1 percentage point from January's revised rate. About 59,000 Utahns were without work in February, compared to the February 2004 figure of 64,300.

But the year-over-year nonfarm job growth rate was the reason for Knold's excitement. In the past year, the national economy has added 2.4 million new jobs, a rate of 1.8 percent. Utah has added about 40,100 new jobs during that time, equating to the 3.7 percent figure. January's year-over-year growth rate was revised upward to that same rate.

"The performance of the Utah economy has really jumped into a higher gear in the the last four or five months," Knold said. "The amount of employment growth has risen to a level not seen since 1997. It's in the high 3 percent range, with the potential to go higher.

"This is the kind of employment growth that this state needs in terms of absorbing its internal population growth and generating adequate revenue flows into the Legislature to fund education and the transportation needs and other social needs that the state has."

Simply put, for much of the past seven years, Utah's economy could not keep up with the expanding labor force resulting from its population growth and in-migration, he said. A recession compounded the problem.

"What we're seeing here now is this catch-up period where the economy is catching up to the population growth within the civilian labor force," he said.

"I'm very encouraged about where we stand in terms of the economy. It's a position we had enjoyed throughout most of '90s. . . . How long will it last? I think the momentum will hold it this year and on into next year."

"What a difference a year makes," Tani Pack Downing, the department's executive director, said in a prepared statement. "A year ago, Utah was still in the early stages of its rebound from an unprecedented recessionary period. We were adding new jobs, but the economic environment was still somewhat tepid. Now, however, Utah stands second in the nation in employment growth at 3.7 percent, trailing only Nevada."