Utah's economy is the single strongest state economy in the nation, according to one Utah economist. And the single strongest sector within that economy is construction.

It's growing so fast that many construction companies say they can't hire fast enough to staff the jobs they've got on the docket. It's growing so fast that, according to some general contractors, projects are being delayed or redesigned to suit the available labor pool.

It's growing fast, and though the pace may slow to a trot instead of a frothing gallop, industry watchers say Utah's construction market will continue to see healthy growth for years, perhaps decades.

"From 1990 to 2000, construction employment grew by 200 percent," said Mark Knold, senior economist at the Utah Department of Workforce Services. "We went from 23,000 people employed (in construction) in January 1990 to 67,500 in January 2000. In January 2007, we project that number at 96,600."

Earlier in the decade, there was TRAX and highway construction and The Gateway, Grand America Hotel and Salt Lake City Library, to name a few projects in addition to the various facilities augmented or constructed for the 2002 Olympic Winter Games. Then the residential sector came apace, as homebuilding exploded, particularly in the southern part of the Salt Lake Valley and in southern Utah.

Now, with home construction fading again, the nonresidential sector is entering what is shaping up to be a record-setting period, according to James Wood, director of the Bureau of Economic and Business Research at the University of Utah.

"On the nonresidential side, we'll set an all-time record in 2007 and most likely again in 2008," Wood said. "We're going to have probably the two best years ever, coming in the next two years. In real terms, adjusted for inflation, we're back to the pre-Olympic years."

Record growth

In the first two months of 2007, nonresidential construction permits were up 43 percent over the same period last year, Wood said. To set an all-time record in the commercial building sector, the industry would have to reach the $1.8 billion mark.

"I think we'll get there," Wood said. "And that's just in permit-authorized building (which includes office and industrial space, retail and some permitted government facilities). It doesn't include schools, roads, dams, highways. And there are quite a few of those."

Just in the downtown Salt Lake area, Wood said, there's 222 S. Main, a 21-story skyscraper announced by Wasatch Real Estate Partners and Hamilton Partners; a $100 million new courthouse and renovation of the Frank Moss Federal Courthouse; ongoing development at The Gateway; and renovations at the Walker Center.