Utah economy still strong

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The Utah economy hummed along in March as the unemployment rate remained near a historical low and job growth near all-time highs, according to new figures released Tuesday.

The Utah Department of Workforce Services pegged the statewide jobless rate at 2.4 percent last month, up slightly from 2.3 percent in February but down from 3.1 percent a year earlier.

Job growth varied by county, as usual, but statewide crept up to 4.5 percent from February's 4.4 percent.

Utah gained 53,500 jobs from March 2006 through last month, according to DWS.

Mark Knold, senior DWS economist, said predictions from the department that employment growth would slow because of the extremely low unemployment rate have failed to materialize so far.

"We postulated that employment growth was not sustainable and had to soften," Knold said. "It has to some degree, but the market has a way of doing its own work, and through its magic -- i.e., rising wages and attracting in-migration -- labor supply is meeting labor demand."

In contrast to Utah, the United States unemployment rate for March was 4.4 percent and job growth was at 1.5 percent -- numbers still considered to be healthy in economic terms.

Immigration from other countries, most notably Mexico, is helping to fill unmet demand in construction and other booming industries, Knold said.

In-migration from other states also is helping feed the labor pool as people flock from more expensive west coast states to take advantage of Utah's relatively low living costs, he said.

The DWS report said Weber, Davis and Morgan counties together account for 16 percent of the Utah economy. The local area, also known as the Ogden-Clearfield Metropolitan Statistical Area, had overall economic growth of 3 percent in the past year.

Utah will continue to rely on people from other states and nations to replenish its strained labor pool, the report said.

"With a 2.4 percent unemployment rate, if in-migration were to cease, Utah's economic growth would falter," the report said.

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