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Tonya Papanikolas ReportingAfter two or three years in a slump, job growth is on the rise. The Utah Department of Workforce Services releases a job report every month, then they compare it to that month last year to analyze improvement. June's report just came out, showing the best numbers we've had in the last three years.
At the state-run Metro Employment Center hundreds of people look through job postings searching for the right job.
Shawn White: “I'm looking for a customer service position, sales positions."
Kristin Chavez: “I've been a mail clerk and I've done customer service and reception work, so I'm trying to find something related to any of those."
Kristin Chavez was recently laid off, but she's hopeful she'll find a new position soon.
Kristin Chavez: “It seems like there's a lot more jobs open now than there have been over the last few years. So I'm, I think I'm kind of starting this at a good time."
According to the Department of Workforce Services, she's right. Yesterday they released their June job report and it was extremely positive.
Jim Robson, Dept. of Workforce Services Economist: “We've finally got ahead of job losses in recession and starting to see some real positive growth and positive signs in the economy."
Compared with June of last year, Utah has 1.9 percent more jobs now. That's almost 21,000 added positions. The largest growth is in the professional and business fields. Those industries have 7200 more jobs than they did last year.
Jim Robson: “Quite a few of them, about 2400 jobs, are in the professional and technical area. That includes legal and engineering and architecture, computer design services."
About 47 percent of the job growth in this category comes from temporary employment services.
David Newman, Staffing Solutions Branch Manager: “We've actually seen about a 60 percent increase since last year."
A lot of businesses want to try people out before they hire them. Customers at Staffing Solutions find jobs in everything from manufacturing and labor to clerical work.
David Newman: “There's a lot of job opportunties available. The economy is turning around."
Job-seekers like Shawn White agree.
Shawn White: “I think the job market is making a serious comeback now. So that's great for the working class."
The second largest category for job growth was construction. They gained about 2600 jobs.
