August 2008
Unemployment Rate
Click for latest employment situation
Utah: 3.7% U.S.: 6.1%
Year-Over Nonfarm Growth
Utah: 0.3% U.S.: -0.3%

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
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