Utah TrendLines Extra
June 1, 2009
Utah
Economic News and Data
Utah's unemployment rate held steady in April at 5.2
percent, according to numbers released by the state's Department of Workforce
Services. But the state is not finished shedding jobs, and it will likely be
several months before job losses hit bottom and things turn around.
http://www.deseretnews.com/article/705305678/Utah-jobless-rate-in-April-stayed-at-52.html
Utah business executives are feeling more optimistic
about their companies' financial futures—the first improvement in what has been
an increasingly gloomy past two years.
http://www.deseretnews.com/article/705306588/Zions-executive-survey-takes-a-turn-toward-optimism.html
Investors from around the country as well as
in Utah invested in Utah businesses more frequently in 2008 than in 2007.
http://www.deseretnews.com/article/705305783/Investment-deals-grew-in-08-for-Utah-firms.html
The
Interior Department will invest $118.7 million in Utah from the Obama
administration's federal stimulus pot. This spending will occur across several
agencies, which will be responsible for soliciting competitive bids for various
"shovel-ready" projects.
http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_12360805
Household products giant Reckitt Benckiser is coming to
Tooele County. The global company broke ground Wednesday on a $35 million
custom-manufacturing and distribution center across the street from Miller
Motorsports Park that will create 200 jobs. The Utah center will be the
distribution hub for the Pacific Northwest and western Canada.
http://www.deseretnews.com/article/705301748/Reckitt-Benckiser-bringing-200-jobs-to-Tooele-County.html
Internet auction company eBay Inc. has announced that it
will consolidate its North America customer service facilities, with plans to
grow employment at its South Jordan facility. The company said it will close
its facility in Vancouver, British Columbia, which has about 700 agents, by
Sept. 30. The South Jordan facility has more than 900 agents. EBay did not
disclose how many agents would be added in South Jordan.
http://www.deseretnews.com/article/705303073/EBay-to-move-jobs-to-South-Jordan.html
Continental
Airlines will eliminate about 80 jobs in Salt Lake City as part of a plan to
cut 500 reservation agents companywide and close a call center in Tampa, Fla.
http://www.sltrib.com/business/ci_12362635
The number
of passengers using Salt Lake City International Airport fell sharply in the
first quarter as the recession continued to rage and airlines cut domestic
flights. The number of travelers flying into and from Salt Lake City's airport
fell 12 percent, to 4.8 million, in the January-March period from 5.4 million a
year earlier.
http://www.sltrib.com/business/ci_12298970
The commercial real estate market along the
Wasatch Front is facing tough economic challenges, and Utah County is no
exception. Every sector of the market is experiencing difficulties brought on
by the downturn in the state and national economies, according to analysts at
the Utah County commercial real estate conference.
http://www.deseretnews.com/article/705301643/Tough-in-Utah-County.html
Utah's home
values fell 9.3 percent in the year that ended in March, and though it was the
sixth-highest drop among all states, the decline coaxed even some reluctant
buyers into making a move.
http://www.sltrib.com/business/ci_12459668
In Utah,
8.4 percent of homeowners with a mortgage are either behind on their payments
or in foreclosure, though that's below a record of 12.1 percent nationally, a
new report shows.
http://www.sltrib.com/business/ci_12469546
Interior
Secretary Ken Salazar said he relied on mistaken information in shelving 77
leases for oil and gas exploration in Utah and will conduct a thorough review
of the actions surrounding the December auction.
http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_12413205
Three
petroleum companies and three Utah counties are suing the U.S. Interior
Department, alleging that Secretary Ken Salazar broke the law in setting aside
77 disputed oil and gas lease parcels in the Beehive State.
http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_12372304
Utah,
which had an increase of 120 percent in foreclosure-related filings over the
past year, now has the sixth-highest rate among all states.
http://www.sltrib.com/ci_12364153
Utah's largest renewable energy facility is inching
toward completion, fulfilling the president's dream, but not with his money.
Construction workers on the Milford Wind Corridor, a planned 300-megawatt
wind-energy farm in Beaver County, have finished 20 of the foundations needed
for the farm's 97 wind turbines. They've also completed most of the
transmission line between the farm and the Intermountain Power Plant in Delta
and expect the first turbine tower to go up by the end of the month, all
building up to the ribbon-cutting in December.
http://www.deseretnews.com/article/705306329/Utah-wind-farm-nearing-completion.html
Unexpectedly
low bids from road builders have allowed the state of Utah to add nine projects
to its list of recipients for federal stimulus dollars. The Utah Transportation
Commission shifted $13.3 million toward new projects. Savings in the state's
regular highway program also allowed commissioners to move $9 million from work
on State Route Highway 89 and a State Street railroad in Pleasant Grove.
http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_12405760
The Utah Department of Transportation, local governments
and transportation planning organizations have spent 80.7 percent of stimulus
funds provided by the federal government, making the Beehive State the second
fastest in the nation to spend the funds.
http://www.deseretnews.com/article/705305317/Utah-is-2nd-fastest-in-spending-stimulus-funds.html
City officials are ecstatic: Not only did they manage to
secure their largest chunk of financing for the Davis Cultural Arts Center,
they also got a great interest rate. Groundbreaking has been set for May 28.
When the center is completed in October 2010, it will include a 500-seat
main-stage theater, rehearsal space and a black-box theater for smaller
productions.
http://www.deseretnews.com/article/705301753/Centerville-bonds-for-theater.html
Utah is 50.5 percent male
and one of only 11 states with more men than women. Leading the U.S. pack, as
usual, is the fabled frontiersman's hide-out, Alaska, at 52.1 percent. Nevada
and Wyoming also have a higher proportion of men, and Utah is fourth.
http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_12365589
The $2 million in one-time funds the
statewide engineering initiative received to promote engineering at the higher
education level could help bring Utah's economy out of its current slump.
http://www.deseretnews.com/article/705306174/Engineering-initiative-could-rejuvenate-economy.html
A company that extracts minerals from the Great Salt Lake
wants more room to work along it. Great Salt Lake Minerals Corp. says the
expanded request is an attempt to meet growing demand for sulfate of potash, a
specialty fertilizer.
http://www.deseretnews.com/article/705306830/Company-seeks-expanded-use-of-Great-Salt-Lake.html
