Utah employment rate OK compared to rest of the nation


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Credit card giant American Express will cut 7,000 jobs; that's about 10 percent of its global work force.

A spokeswoman for American Express told Eyewitness News that the number of cuts in Utah will be minor, but she wouldn't give an exact figure. She says some have already been notified about the cuts, and the cuts will take effect by the end of the year.

Utah employment rate OK compared to rest of the nation

As far as jobs in Utah, it's always a roller coaster. We hate to hear news about more job cuts, but the truth is Utah's job picture, compared to the rest of the country, is still pretty good.

Our unemployment rate is still way below the national average: 3.5 percent compared to 6 percent. And our job growth rate, though slowing, is still increasing.

Earlier this year, there were a couple of companies that announced cutbacks.

In May, KraftMaid Cabinetry of West Jordan said it would have to cut a couple hundred workers. The Deseret News cut back about three dozen positions. Then Moroni Feed in central Utah announced that 450 people would be temporarily laid off until early next year.

Utah employment rate OK compared to rest of the nation

On the other hand, last week Oracle Corp. broke ground on a new plant in West Jordan, which means new jobs are coming to the state.

State economist Austin Sargent said this scenario was normal. "Job markets are that way. They're very dynamic. There's a lot of churn. There's a lot of creation. What's called creative destruction, a lot of job loss at the same time. So overall, for Utahns there will still be opportunities, but it will be more competitive," he said.

Last year, Utah had a 3 percent job growth rate, that's 12,000 new jobs compared to the previous year. Now the growth rate is one-tenth of a percent, with only 2,000 new jobs created, and it may stay that way for a while.

"We suspect that 2009 will be a pretty lean year for the nation, as well as Utah, until some of this financial crisis gets worked through," Sargent said.

We've seen similar slowdowns in the past in Utah. Job growth was flat, and even went negative in 2001, 2002 and 2003, and finally came back. But right now, compared to some other states, Utah is OK.

E-mail: kmccord@ksl.com

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Keith McCord

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