From Deseret News archives:
Utah unemployment rate is record 2.5%
The state's unemployment rate fell to 2.5 percent for October, down from 2.8 percent in September, the department reported. At this time last year, the jobless rate was 4.2 percent.
The new rate is "something we've never seen before here in the state of Utah," said Mark Knold, the department's senior economist.
"I went back through the records and looked. Unemployment records were kept from 1950 forward, and the lowest we've ever gotten was 3 percent in 1997," Knold said.
About 33,000 Utahns were jobless in October, compared to 54,100 in the same month a year ago, the department reported. Job growth in the state held steady at 5 percent.
The situation is one of an "almost maxed-out labor force," Knold said, with every employment sector and every county in the state reporting growth.
Susan Smith, vice president/regional director for Manpower of Utah, said the staffing services industry has been hopping at a steady pace for well over a year.
"This is tight, but it's been steady-strong for a couple of years," Smith said. "This is full employment."
What it means for Utahns, Smith said, is a kind of seller's market.
"It means that the people with the right skills are working," she said. "If you want them, we've got to go find them. They're not just knocking on our door saying, 'Hello.' They're working."
The construction, manufacturing and health services professions are all looking, Smith said. But it isn't just them.
"Those are all very strong industries, but it doesn't mean that if you've got skills in finance and accounting. That's the thing they're all very strong," she said. "It's about good skills."
Rich County reported 18.7 percent growth in nonfarm employment, the department reported, followed by 17.6 percent growth in Juab County. Wasatch County saw 16.5 percent growth.
On the other end of the meter, Millard County reported 1.7 percent growth, while Garfield County saw 1.8 percent growth.
The Wasatch Front designated by the department to include Davis, Morgan, Weber, Salt Lake and Tooele counties saw 4.7 percent growth.
Earlier this month, the U.S. Labor Department reported that the national unemployment rate was 4.4 percent, while job growth measured 1.4 percent.
And going forward?
"I kind of have to start thinking outside the box in terms of what the economy can do," Knold said. "Two-point-five percent I didn't think we'd get that low. So, I guess I'd say, 'Stay tuned and see what happens next."'
E-mail: jnii@desnews.com
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