State unemployment still very low
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No Comments [ Add Comment ]By Jeff DeMoss
Standard-Examiner staff
jdemoss@standard.net
O
GDEN -- The statewide unemployment rate inched upward last month as job growth slowed slightly, and while both figures continued to reflect economic strength near an all-time high, the local job market is expected to level off in the coming months and years.
Utah's November jobless rate measured 2.6 percent, up from 2.5 percent in October, the Utah Department of Workforce Services reported Tuesday.
The statewide job growth rate, another major economic indicator, fell to 4.9 percent from October's 5 percent.
Utah has created 57,700 new jobs in the past year, according to DWS. All major employment sectors have reported job growth over the past year, led by the construction industry, which has added 14,500 jobs.
"Utah's economy is still doing very well, but we have probably passed the high point of the business cycle that started in late 2003," said Mark Knold, senior economist for DWS. "From here forward will be a slow, and at times imperceptible, movement downward to a more moderately performing economy."
The figures show a Utah economy that is still considerably stronger than that of the United States overall. The nationwide unemployment rate for November was 4.5 percent, up from 4.4 percent in October, while job growth was at 1.3 percent, down from 1.4 percent in October.
Job growth in Top of Utah counties was below the statewide average, but still very strong in historical terms. The six northernmost counties in the state recorded combined job growth of 3.5 percent for the month.
Utah has accounted for about 3.2 percent of the 1.8 million new jobs added nationwide in the past year, despite being home to less than 1 percent of the U.S. population.
Knold said Utah's record-high job growth rate of recent months will have to start leveling off soon, unless "huge amounts" of people begin moving in from out-of-state.
"You cannot sustain top-of-the-historic-scale employment growth with an unemployment rate that has fallen into the basement," he said. "The workers just are not there to further support extreme growth. There really isn't any place for the employment growth rate to go but down."
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