I spoke two nights ago at a meeting of the Timp Valley (Utah County) chapter of the International Association of Administrative Professionals (IAAP). In preparing for the presentation, I gathered some information on the Utah economy. I was surprised to see how well Utah is doing relative to the rest of the country.
The red line in the picture above is the national average unemployment rate, which was 8.1% in February 2009. The blue line is the Utah unemployment rate, which was 4.6% in January 2009. Although this rate will almost surely increase closer to 5% in February, Utah's January unemployment rate was the fifth lowest among all 50 states. The only states with lower unemployment rates were Wyoming (3.7%), North Dakota (4.2%), Nebraska (4.3%), and South Dakota (4.4%). The following map shows how state unemployment rates vary across the country. Notice how both the East coast and the West coast are getting killed in terms of unemployment. While the story with Utah's and Wyoming's low unemployment rates seems to be natural resources.
The graphic below breaks down the change in the number of Utah jobs by industry between January 2008 and January 2009. The natural resource industry had the biggest gains, by far, during 2008 with nearly 20% growth. The next closest gainers were education and health (+3.5%)--probably driven mostly by the health industry--and government (+3.2). On the negative side, construction was the biggest loser, clocking in with a loss of over 15%. The next closest loser was Utah manufacturing with a loss in 2008 of 7%.
The graphic below breaks down the change in the number of Utah jobs by industry between January 2008 and January 2009. The natural resource industry had the biggest gains, by far, during 2008 with nearly 20% growth. The next closest gainers were education and health (+3.5%)--probably driven mostly by the health industry--and government (+3.2). On the negative side, construction was the biggest loser, clocking in with a loss of over 15%. The next closest loser was Utah manufacturing with a loss in 2008 of 7%.What I took away from these snapshots of the Utah economy were the following three points:
1) The Utah economy is doing much better than the national economy. As bad as it feels in Utah right now (4.6% unemployment), we should be glad we aren't in California (10.1%), Michigan (11.6%), Rhode Island (10.3%), or South Carolina (10.4%).
2) The Utah natural resources industry is doing very well, along with the health industry and government.
3) Utah construction, manufacturing, finance, and leisure and hospitality will likely continue to struggle in 2009.
1) The Utah economy is doing much better than the national economy. As bad as it feels in Utah right now (4.6% unemployment), we should be glad we aren't in California (10.1%), Michigan (11.6%), Rhode Island (10.3%), or South Carolina (10.4%).
2) The Utah natural resources industry is doing very well, along with the health industry and government.
3) Utah construction, manufacturing, finance, and leisure and hospitality will likely continue to struggle in 2009.
