Utah Economic News And Data

December 4, 2009 --PR or News Wire

The following information was reported in the Department of Workforce Services Utah TrendLines Extra.

Another 4,500 Utahns lost jobs last month, increasing the state's unemployment rate to 6.5 percent in October. While that is as high as the rate has been since April of 1987, the Utah Department of Workforce Services' chief economist said there is some underlying hope within the latest monthly jobless numbers. http://www.sltrib.com/business/ci_13823975

The Wasatch Front may have led most of the nation in job growth before the recession began, but that may be cold comfort as Utah struggles to restart after its worst recession in 75 years. http://www.sltrib.com/business/ci_13817791

More than 36,000 families in Utah are behind on their mortgages and another 13,000 are in the foreclosure process, but the state's share of problem loans remains well below the national average. http://www.sltrib.com/business/ci_13826768

Alliant Techsystems (ATK), whose armament systems division has its headquarters in Clearfield, said it has been awarded a contract to supply small-caliber ammunition worth $93 million worth to the U.S. Army Sustainment Command in Rock Island, Ill. http://www.sltrib.com/business/ci_13748293

The growing ranks of the unemployed already have drained this year's budget of a state-administered program that provides new-job training to people whose old professions may not return when the recession ends. Employment counselors at the Utah Department of Workforce Services were informed that enrollment in a job-training program funded through the federal Workforce Investment Act (WIA) was being suspended for the rest of the fiscal year, which ends June 30, 2010. http://www.sltrib.com/business/ci_13818957

The physical face of Utah's ski industry has changed little heading into this second winter of the deep downturn. Solitude has replaced a lift. Sundance is adding lights for night skiing. That's about it. But off the slopes, two developments are viewed as harbingers of long-term benefits, even if their immediate impacts might be limited in these tough economic times. http://www.sltrib.com/business/ci_13826488

Like a year ago, employers in Utah seem reluctant to pad their payrolls this holiday season with part-time workers. But even if the number of available jobs is not much better this winter than last, Utah Department of Workforce Services' chief economist Mark Knold said there is reason to believe economic conditions are on the upswing—as is the public perception of where things are and where they're going. http://www.sltrib.com/business/ci_13853319

Like many Realtors, Deanna Dipo was upbeat and cheerful over news that sales of existing homes in October were up 23 percent year-over-year—evidence that low mortgage rates and tax credit incentives brought buyers back into Salt Lake County real estate offices after months of little activity.