Jim Robson, Regional Economist
The Wasatch Front South Service Area labor market ended 2014 with year-over employment growth in December of 2.2 percent. The region’s unemployment rate was a healthy 3.5 percent in the fourth quarter of 2014. Average employment growth in 2014 was 2.4 percent above the level for 2013. There was job growth across all major industrial groups with two exceptions, mining and manufacturing employment. In 2014, the region marked its fourth complete year of economic expansion and labor market improvement since the end of the great recession.
For Salt Lake and Tooele Counties, the continuing healthy job growth and labor market will characterize economic conditions during 2015, with new employment expected to increase about 2.7 percent for the year, an additional 17,700 positions. Total 2015 payroll employment will average about 672,100 jobs in this region. Substantial job increases should come from professional/scientific/technical services, administrative support, trade, financial activities and education.
The improving labor market brought down the unemployment rate to average 3.7 percent in 2014. In the first quarter of 2015 unemployment averaged 3.3 percent and will likely continue to range between 3.0 and 3.4 percent through 2015.
Salt Lake County
* Year-over job increases continue across 15 of 19 industrial sectors with overall nonfarm payroll employment increasing by 2.2 percent from December 2013 to December 2014. The net new jobs from the past year added to the four-plus years of recovery since the employment trough of the recent recession in Salt Lake County.
* Average employment in 2013 was 624320 and 639,395 in 2014, an increase of 15,076 jobs or 2.4 percent. There were 656,221 nonfarm payroll jobs reported by employers in December 2014, which includes the temporary employment surge of the holiday season.
* From December 2013 to December 2014, the most new jobs are being created in professional/scientific/technical services, construction, trade, finance/insurance and food services.
* Within professional/scientific/technical services, 3,265 new job opportunities were concentrated in computer systems design, accounting/bookkeeping, management/technical consulting, architectural and engineering services.
* The 2,279 new construction jobs were spread across commercial, residential, and industrial activities. Residential building permits increased by 16 percent to 6,066, the highest number of permits since 2006.
* Four industries shed jobs from December 2013 to December 2014. Transportation/warehousing declined by 512 positions with most reductions found among truck and air transportation.
* Mining employment was down by about 156 jobs with the effects of declining oil prices being manifest in oil and gas support activities. Manufacturing and information had reductions of 89 and 85 jobs respectively.
* In the fourth quarter of 2014, there was a net increase of 3.5 percent in firms and worksites within Salt Lake County. This increase of 1,381 units brought the total count of firms and worksites to 41,156.
* The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in Salt Lake County has lessened from 3.9 percent in March 2014 to 3.2 percent in March 2015. Since March 2014, the number of Salt Lake County residents that are unemployed has declined from about 22,150 to 18,900. Initial claims for unemployment benefits are at their lowest level in five years.
* The stabilization, improvement and expansion in the Salt Lake County labor market since mid-year 2010 have been reflected in the gross taxable sales figures. For 19 consecutive quarters, starting in the second quarter of 2010 and going through the fourth quarter of 2014, Salt Lake County’s year-over change in sales tax collections has been positive. The fourth quarter 2014 year-over taxable sales were up six percent.
Tooele County
* Tooele County’s own job recession continued through the end of 2014 with year-over job losses of 297 for the 12 months ending in December 2014. Payroll employment within the county peaked in mid-2011 and has been down on a year-over comparative basis since then.
* Overall, nonfarm payroll employment totaled 14,870 in December 2014. This is the lowest job count for the month of December since 2005.
* The three largest job reductions from December 2013 to December 2014 occurred in the waste management and remediation services, construction, and the federal government. Many of these losses stem from the direct and indirect effects of the Deseret Chemical Depot closure which was completed by the end of summer of 2014.
* The three industries showing the largest December 2014 year-over employment increases include transportation/warehousing, healthcare/social services, and arts/entertainment/recreation services.
* In 2013, average annual nonfarm payroll Jobs totaled 15,419 in Tooele County. For 2014, there were 14,944 jobs, a reduction of 475 or a decline in payroll positions of 3.1 percent. After accounting for seasonal variations, the level of jobs in the county stabilized in 2014. Therefore, the outlook for 2015 is for the Tooele County job market to return to the plus side of the ledger with some positive overall job additions as year-over employment growth should resume in the spring.
* In the fourth quarter 2014, there was a net increase of 2.4 percent in firms and worksites within Tooele County. This increase of 25 units brought the total count of firms and worksites to 1,056. This increase in payroll firms and worksites is another sign that the economic climate is improving and that new job growth will be returning.
* As part of the greater Salt Lake City Metropolitan Area, Tooele County residents have access to the Salt Lake County job market. Salt Lake’s current relative strength provides support to Tooele County residents.
* The unemployment rate was estimated to be 5 percent in March 2014, improving to a rate of 4 percent in March 2015. There are about 1,170 unemployed Tooele County Residents looking for work in the spring of 2015.
* During the first quarter of 2015, initial unemployment insurance claims averaged the lowest level in Tooele County for any first quarter since 2006. This indicates that the Tooele County labor market has returned to non-recessionary levels of job separations.
* Residential building permits increased by 27.4 percent to 363, the highest number of permits since 2007. The overall value of all permited construction activity increased in 2014 by 16.6 percent over the previous year totaling $142.5 million.
* Gross taxable sales increased by 4.6 percent in the fourth quarter 2014 compared to fourth quarter 2013.
