Utah TrendLines Extra
October 1, 2008
Utah
Economic News and Data
Utah's job growth stalled at 0.3 percent in August, the
lowest monthly employment growth rate since August 2003, the Department of
Workforce Services reported. The state's unemployment rate, meanwhile,
increased to 3.7 percent in August, up from 3.5 percent in July. Utah employers
added just over 3,200 jobs in August. The nearly flat growth rate is an
important indicator of the "powerful negative external economic
pressures" weighing on the state economy.
http://deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,700259388,00.html
The nonprofit trade association AeA, formerly the
American Electronics Association, said Utah tech exports grew $339 million last
year, boosted by a more-than-triple jump in exports of semiconductors. Utah's
international high-tech trade totaled $1.1 billion in 2007, with Utah trailing
only Hawaii in year-over-year percentage growth. Utah was behind only Virginia,
Florida, Idaho and New Jersey when measuring the dollar increase.
http://deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,700261275,00.html
The
Governors Office of Economic Development says the economic impact of the film
industry was $138 million in the past year.
http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_10488722
A
University of Utah researcher says that in the coming decades one-third of
Wasatch Front residents will want to live in a downtown setting or in an area
with public transit and other urban amenities.
http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_10619880
Californians
rave about year-round sunshine, temperate climate and easy access to surfing,
snowboarding and everything in between. But when it comes to getting the most
out of their home buying dollar, they've got nothing on homeowners in the
Midwest, a new study suggests. Turns out, the average homeowner in the Salt
Lake metro area doesn't either.
http://www.sltrib.com/business/ci_10423128
Plans were
unveiled for a $2.1 billion retail, recreation and residential development,
proposed for 85 acres in northern Utah County, called “The Point.” The project
design includes a five-star hotel¾which could become the state's
tallest building at 450 feet - and a 12,000-seat arena. Stores, condos, offices
and restaurants would make up a town center.
http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_10554121
Plans for
the high-rising Proscenium, a $560-million mixed-use development planned in
Sandy, cleared more hurdles this week. The project's first phase includes a
2,700-seat, Broadway-style theater and a 40-story tower, roughly 550 feet tall,
that would house a hotel, condos and offices.
http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_10390104
Ogden Mayor Matthew Godfrey says plans are taking shape
for a $13 million downtown velodrome that could be the only one of its kind.
Godfrey says he expects preliminary architectural plans for the velodrome to be
complete next week. The 160,000-square-foot arena would include 10 indoor
tennis courts, a 250-meter cycling track, a concrete in-line skating rink and
an archery facility.
http://deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,700257177,00.html
More Utahns
are giving higher education the old college try. About 20.5 percent more Utahns
enrolled as undergraduates in college during 2007 than in 2000, according to
the U.S. Census American Community Survey. About 35 percent more enrolled in
graduate and professional schools. In that same time, Utah's population
increased by about 18 percent, according to the survey.
http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_10534798
The Census Bureau’s American Community Survey shows Utah
has the nation's largest household size; both its men and women marry at the
youngest ages in America; a higher ratio of its women give birth each year than
in any other state; more of its households include children; more households
are led by a married couple; and more of its children have at least one
stay-at-home parent.
http://deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,700261062,00.html
More than a year after announcing it would build a
downtown office tower in Provo, Zions Bancorp leaders finally broke ground on
the project. The Zions Bank Financial Center will rise eight stories above
University Avenue on the southeast corner of 200 North. The bank will be the
anchor tenant and occupy 36,000 square feet with a branch on the main level and
offices on the third and fourth floors.
http://deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,700259248,00.html
A large, traditional, indoor mall appears to be in the
works for Lehi. City officials confirmed that the property around 2100 North
and 2300 West is in the planning stages of construction and, for now, is
expected to be called Thanksgiving Station.
http://deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,700257431,00.html
Iron
County's namesake is being mined by a Utah company with plans to sell more than
$1 billion worth of high-grade ore to China during the next five years. The
open-pit mine, which closed in 1996 under Geneva Steel, became active again on
Sept. 11 with a 25-person staff and plans to eventually employ about 120
workers.
http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_10620510
Officials from two oil companies told state
regulators Thursday that the Uintah Basin has plenty of water to supply
commercial-scale development of oil shale in Utah.
http://deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,700263653,00.html
America
West Resources Inc. said it had signed an agreement to supply $6.6 million worth
of coal from its Horizon Mine, northwest of Price, to an undisclosed utility in
California.
http://www.sltrib.com/business/ci_10423133
All's quiet
on the mountaintop. Instead of an exclusive ski area with jet-setters visiting
their multimillion-dollar homes, locals here have seen no changes at the Mount
Holly Club atop the Tushar Mountains.
http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_10409207
EnergySolutions and Union Pacific Railroad
struck an agreement for rail services and upgrades to an existing line that
will support moving about 16 million tons of uranium-mill tailings over the
next 20 years away from their current location near the Colorado River and
Moab.
http://deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,700257701,00.html
Uranium mining will resume at two underground
mines on claims in Grand County, Utah, and Mesa County, Colo., the Bureau of
Land Management said.
http://deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,700258421,00.html
Sorenson
Communications Inc. has moved into a new call-relay center in Price and is on
target to have more than 100 employees working by the end of the year. The
center opened in August after being temporarily housed in the former Utah
Division of Wildlife Services building in Price.
http://www.sltrib.com/business/ci_10613545
Illegal immigration, which has sparked
political and social turmoil in communities across the nation, is on the wane.
The number of illegal immigrants entering the United States has slowed
significantly the past few years, falling below the number of those entering
the country legally, according to the report by the Pew Hispanic Center, a
Washington think tank.
http://deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,700263543,00.html
The economic downturn is bringing an upturn
in the number of adults coming back to school to earn high school diplomas.
Many seek better footing as the competition for adequate-paying jobs gets steeper.
http://deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,700263086,00.html
A newly released environmental impact
statement shows the Mountain View Corridor will be built in phases and the
highway will initially have two lanes in each direction before expanding to
four lanes in each direction.
http://deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,700263113,00.html
Utah ranks first in the nation in utilizing technology to
provide services to citizens, Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. announced. The Center for
Digital Government conducts a survey of states every two years. In 2004, Utah
ranked eighth among the states, and in 2006, it reached fourth place.
http://deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,700263320,00.html
