Utah job growth slight but better than nation's

Utah has lost 13,500 construction jobs since last year, according to data released Tuesday by the Utah Department of Workforce Services.

Jobs also have decreased in the finance and manufacturing sectors. The state lost 1,400 manufacturing jobs and 1,000 financial jobs from September 2007 to September 2008.

Over all, job growth in Utah plateaued at 0.1 percent in September, compared with September 2007, the report said. The state added 1,800 jobs from September 2007 to September 2008, which raised the statewide total number of wage and salary jobs to about 1.27 million.

The state jobless rate, meanwhile, was at 3.5 percent in September, a slight decline from the 3.7 percent reported in August. Nationally, the unemployment rate was at 6.1 percent in September. About 48,300 Utahns were considered unemployed in September, compared with 38,400 in September 2007.

"Utah's employment growth rate has largely fallen to zero," said Mark Knold, the department's chief economist. "But that is better than the national picture, where the economy is into its sixth month of declining employment."

The construction industry in Utah likely will not lose many more jobs because it has already been hit so hard, he said. But he warned that Utah could see significant job losses in many sectors by the end of next year. The state jobless rate could be in the 5 percent range by late 2008, he said in an interview.

"There's a whole other round of slowing in the economy, and we're not going to duck it at all," he said. "We're going to feel it, too."

He said the construction industry would continue to struggle as the economy attempted to rebound. In addition, he said, "manufacturing is going to have its problems, and the financial sector, of course."

The professional-services industry also could feel the economic pain, as companies reduce their use of temporary staff to save money, he said.

Knold said retail is another area that has also been vulnerable to the prevailing economic weakness.

"That's where we're pulling money out of our wallets and if everybody is feeling anxiety about the economy, they don't want to spend much," he said. "It's probably not going to be a good Christmas season."

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E-mail: jlee@desnews.com

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