Finding qualified employees is the No. 1 concern of Utah business leaders, according to a new survey by Dan Jones & Associates.

The survey, commissioned by Zions Bank for its Utah Quarterly Economic Forecast, included 320 respondents in high-ranking positions at businesses statewide in January and February.

Sixty-three percent of the respondents said finding qualified employees was one of their greatest concerns.

But that result should come as no surprise as the state's unemployment rate in February fell to a record low of 2.3 percent, down from 3.2 percent in February 2006, according to the Utah Department of Workforce Services. More than 1.2 million Utahns are currently employed.

Other concerns expressed in the survey included the cost of employee health insurance, keeping qualified employees and the cost of salaries and wages.

Despite those concerns, 32 percent of executives said they were "very optimistic" about their company's financial future based on profits and losses over the past three months.

"Executives whose company employs a greater number of full-time employees, older executives and those whose businesses are headquartered along the Wasatch Front are more likely to say they are very optimistic about the financial future of their company," the report noted. "Utah business leaders are still significantly more likely to predict that their company's economic health will be better in the coming three months than worse."

Julie Olsen, market research analyst at Dan Jones, said Utah businesses did not share a sense of any impending doom. Only 11 percent of respondents expected that over the next three months the economic health of their company would be "somewhat worse" than its current state.

"I feel like our economy is healthy," Olsen said. "But people are also realistic that there are costs with employee insurance and with finding qualified employees and keeping them. It's a more competitive market to keep your employees."

The optimism of Utah executives is in contrast to a national consumer confidence index released this week that showed concerns over rising gasoline prices, falling home values and a volatile stock market.

Dirk Anjewierden, executive director of the Utah Health Care Association, which represents 77 long-term care facilities across the state, said demand for nurses is high, with pay ranges beginning at $20 to $25 an hour.

"A lot of facilities are getting very creative in how they find them," Anjewierden said. "Some of the facilities are going through programs that bring them in from overseas — the Philippines, Korea and India."

Likewise, other Utah industries — especially construction, oil and gas, and financial services — are grappling with ways to fill vacant positions.

The Dan Jones survey said 46 percent of respondents planned to hire more people in the coming three months.

"Not only do we have a hard time hiring nurses, but we also have a very difficult time hiring certified nursing assistants," Anjewierden said. "We compete with fast food, hospitals and hotels. That makes it very, very difficult."

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