Utah metro economy looking up

SALT LAKE CITY — The economic worst is likely over for Utah's largest metro area, according to a new report from a renowned national think tank.

The Global MetroMonitor, co-authored by the Brookings Institution and the London School of Economics, ranked 150 of the world's largest metro economies through three time periods — pre-recession 1993-2007, recession 2007-08/09 and recovery 2009-10, and found Salt Lake City ranked No. 67 worldwide in terms of economic output.

Prior to the start of the Great Recession, Salt Lake's economic performance was among the top 50 metros, before falling to No. 123 during the worst of the downturn.

"In a way, Salt Lake was a classic American story in the international context," Alan Berube, senior fellow and research director at the Brookings Metropolitan Policy Program and report co-author, told the Deseret News. "A sort of above-average performer in the 15 years leading up to the recession. … but like a lot of the United States "took in on the chin" during the recession."

Berube noted that the Salt Lake metro area is staging a bit of a comeback economically, but is still lagging behind on the job front.

"Jobs and employment … haven't yet rebounded," he said.

The Brookings Institution is a nonprofit, public policy organization based in Washington, D.C., that conducts research and education primarily in economics, metropolitan policy, governance, foreign policy, and global economy and development.

The Global MetroMonitor compares economic trends and conditions in the wake of the Great Recession in 150 of the world's largest metropolitan areas in 52 countries that account for nearly half the world's economic output.

The quarterly report finds that rising Asian and Latin American metros are leading the way in the recovery, posing a serious challenge to Europe and the U.S., but also bolstering emerging markets for American and European metros.

Trends in key U.S. metros like Denver, Phoenix and Salt Lake City are placed in the context of developments among their global peers, the report stated.

"This report confirms that the rise of China, India, Brazil and other nations is fundamentally about the rise of their metropolitan areas," Berube said. "Our analysis shows many Asian and Latin American metros have fully recovered from the global crisis, while U.S. and European metros are still struggling to regain their footing."