Pub. 2 2019-2020 Issue 1

6 • It is important to realize that even in Utah, which is generally expanding, four coun- ties have experienced a silent recession between July 2009 and July 2019: Beaver, Carbon, Emery and Piute. Sometimes you have to look at the individual counties as well as the state as a whole. Statewide, growth has been +36.3, but that number hides the economic situation of these spe- cific counties, which lost jobs instead of gaining them. • Measured between October 2018 and October 2019, Utahhad a 3.3% job-growth rate. That outperforms the U.S. job-growth rate, which is 1.4% for the same period. • The unemployment rate in Utah is cur- rently 2.7%. The national unemployment rate is 3.5%. In general, Ken Simonson says that contrac- tors are confident and busy. Most states are still hiring for construction jobs, although more slowly than they were. People are spending in most categories, but the numbers haven’t been adjusted for infla- tion. He sees three main concerns: • Labor shortages that are being made worse by the current hostile U.S. immi- gration policy. • Trade policies that increase the cost of materials and, as a consequence of that increased cost, reduce the demand for construction. • The possibility of rising interest rates. Again, higher rates translate to decreased demand for projects that produce income for the construction industry. People don’t build new homes they can’t afford. The Bureau of Labor Statistics listed the fol- lowing industries according to their indi- vidual job growth rates and the number of jobs created in the state between October 2018 and October 2019. • Construction: 6.4% (6,900 jobs) • Educational/health services: 4.6% (9,600 jobs) • Financial activities: 2.9% (2,600 jobs) • Government: 1.5% (3,800 jobs) • Information: 5.1% (2,000 jobs) • Leisure/hospitality service: 3.3% (5,000 jobs) • Manufacturing: 2.4% (3,200 jobs) • Natural Resources: 3.1% (300 jobs) • Other services: 3.1% (1,300 jobs) • Professional and business services: 5.1% (11,000) • Trade/transportation/utilities: 1.9% (5,500 jobs) As you can see, the percentage increase doesn’t necessarily match the number of jobs generated. For example, the construc- tion industry had the highest percentage growth, at 6.4%, while professional and business services grew 5.1%, but there were 6,900 new jobs in construction versus 11,000 jobs in professional services. The discrepancy occurs because comparing percentage growth to the actual number of jobs created isn’t an apples-to-apples com- parison. The percentage increase is for just that industry alone. As a result, construction grew 6.4%, outpacing every other industry in terms of its growth, but it did not have as many jobs to start with as some other industries, so the number of actual jobs created is lower than the number of jobs created in those other industries during the same period. Clearly, however, there are plenty of con- struction jobs in Utah right now. What’s the breakdown of the 6.4% increase in Utah construction jobs? According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics in October 2018 and October 2019: • Jobs constructing buildings went from22 thousand to 24.5 thousand, an increase of 11.4%. • Heavy and civil engineering jobs went from 10.7 thousand to 11.4 thousand, which is up 6.5%. • Jobs for specialty trade contractors went from 74.5 thousand to 78.2 thousand, or an increase of 5.0%. • Total construction jobs were 107.2 thou- sand in October 2018 and 114.1 thousand inOctober 2019, for a total increaseof 6.4%. Compare that against the total Utah economy for the same period. The total number of jobs in October 2018 was 1,542.0 thousand. In October 2019 it was 1,593.2 thousand. That represents an increase of 3.3%. As a result of Utah’s strong construction industry, the value of permit authorized construction in Utah, was $4,748.2 million. continued from page 4