Utah employment rising

Local and national employment reports carried mixed results in November, continuing the economy's slow, tantalizing dance toward recovery.

Utah's seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate nudged upward last month, climbing from a revised 4.7 percent in October to 4.9 percent. About 59,700 Utahns were unemployed in November, compared to 73,300 in November 2002.

While the jobless rate may not inspire excessive enthusiasm, the total employment numbers do hint at something exciting, said Mark Knold, senior economist with the Utah Department of Workforce Services.

"We've added more jobs," Knold said. "We have more jobs this November than we did last November, and it's the first month this year where we had employment growth."

The state added 2,500 jobs during the November year-over period, Knold said, led by education and health, government and financial activities. Gains were tempered by steep losses — 2,000 jobs — in construction and manufacturing, which shed 1,300 jobs.

"That's peanuts compared to the 30,000 or so that we really need to be adding, and historically have added," he said. "But considering where we came from over the last few years, we'll take it. Hopefully, it's the start of a trend."

In the spirit of mixed bags, the U.S. Department of Labor reported Friday that the national unemployment rate slipped to 5.9 percent in November, the lowest level in eight months.

U.S. companies added 57,000 new jobs in November, boosting payrolls by 328,000 during the past four months following a half-year hiring drought. But analysts had predicted that about 150,000 new jobs would be added in November.

The jobs market "is not improving as fast as we thought it was," said David Wyss, chief economist at Standard and Poor's DRI. "It's true we've had four consecutive months of payroll growth, which is a start. But it's only a bare start."

Economists are looking for monthly payroll gains of 200,000 to 300,000 to significantly lower the unemployment rate and sustain a labor market recovery.

But in November, the nation's factories continued to struggle. Job losses in that sector continued for the 39th consecutive month, with payrolls falling by 17,000.

The services sector continued to drive employment gains, with health care and social services jumping by 25,000 in November. Hotels and lodging facilities created 13,000 new positions. Hiring also occurred in education, government and professional and business services.