Unemployment Dips in April, but So Does Job Growth

None by Jeff Robinson

(KCPW News) Unemployment in Utah dipped slightly during April, but job growth also continued to decline, according to new data from the Department of Workforce Services. Chief Economist Mark Knold says he is cautious about future growth in the state's retail industry, even though it added more jobs than any other sector during the past year.

"Even though trade is doing well in the state right now, and its kind of living off its recent past, going forward you have to have some concerns that the continued housing slowdown and the continued high gas prices will eventually have some crimping of consumer spending here in Utah and then eventually that retail trade growth will slow down," said Knold.

But the economist says that growth in the health care and governmental industries has held steady, unaffected by the economic downturn. Still, the construction industry continues to shed jobs, losing about 1,300 so far in the past year. Knold estimates it could lose 10,000 jobs altogether as the downturn continues.

That number correlates strongly with building activity in Utah. From January to April, residential building permits are down 36 percent in Salt Lake County compared to the same period last year, according to industry tracker Construction Monitor. President Dave Mineer points out that single-family homes are doing the worst.

"It's pretty dramatic. I think the numbers have dropped back to levels we haven't seen since 1990," he said.

Still, during the same period, commercial building permits only dropped 8 percent. Mineer expects the downward trend will reverse itself by the end of the year.

Email to a friendPosted in KCPW Newsroom. Copyright 2009 KCPW