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Keith McCord ReportingOne of the most talked about issues the last several months--which we have all felt in our wallets--is the high costs of oil and gasoline. And that probably won't change anytime soon, but the bad energy news has overshadowed other positive economic news. Utah has been sitting pretty for quite a while!
Yes, one local financial expert called Utah's economy as "Rip Roarin'!" And one of of the reasons why is construction. Instead of doom and gloom, headlines in the business sections are looking positive.
Today on Wall Street, the stock market jumped, and even though gasoline prices are still way up there, they are moderating a bit. In our own backyard, Utah's economy is full speed ahead.
Jeff Thredgold, Thredgold Economic Associates: "Utah's economy is running at about 90 miles per hour right now."
Zion's Bank economist Jeff Thredgold says Utah hasn't seen such positive economic signs since 1997. Two years ago, real estate appreciation rates were the worst in the country. Today, one of the best!
Jeff Thredgold, Zion's Bank Economist: "Right now we are about 15th of the 50 states, and I wouldn't be at all surprised to see Utah move into the top 7 to 10, in price appreciation over the latest 12 month period."
The big driver in Utah's economic picture is jobs, good jobs! Thredgold says there are 11 major employment sectors in the state, and all are hot.
Jeff Thredgold, Zion's Bank Economist: "Construction has led the way, professional and business services have led the way; healthcare, manufacturing, financial services of all types. So we're getting jobs in all sectors, and the strongest area of job growth are in those sectors."
Utah's job growth rate is 4.8 percent; which means, nearly 56,000 jobs have been created in the past 12 months. That's huge and very impressive. But believe it or not, there's a downside to that; all that hiring is gobbling up the workforce, which will eventually slow things down.
Jeff Thredgold: "The constraint to growth next year is you won't find people to hire. We have strong in-migration from other states, but the job growth in those states is also strong, so I think we'll slow down a little bit for the reason that we can't find anyone to hire."
Thredgold says the economic picture in the whole Intermountain region is strong, and will stay that way for the next couple of years.
And as far as real estate goes, expect double-digit appreciation annually for a few more years yet.
