Utah business conditions slipped slightly in July but remain vibrant enough that Creighton University researchers expect "healthy economic growth in the months ahead."
The university's monthly "Mountain States Index" gave Utah a 56.8 rating during July, down from 57.0 in June and 59.1 in May. Still, Creighton economics professor Ernie Goss predicted Utah's overall job growth this year will rise 4 percent.
"Utah has added just over 25,000 jobs thus far for 2005," he said. "Based on our survey, I expect the state to gain another 22,000 for the rest of the year. This will be the best showing for the Utah labor market since 1996."
Goss also said he expects Colorado to have its best labor market since 2000 and Wyoming its best since 2001.
The overall index for the three Intermountain states rose to another record high, climbing to 72.4 from June's then-record 71.0.
- Mike Gorrell
Novell to cut jobs
Novell Inc., a seller of network software and consulting services, said it plans to eliminate 120 to 150 jobs in Europe, the Middle East and Africa in an effort to cut costs after results fell short of estimates.
The cuts will cost about $10 million to $12 million, most of which will be recorded in the third quarter, the company said today in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The move will reduce quarterly operating expenses by about $3 million to $4 million, Novell said.
Novell, which employs about 2,000 people at its Provo facility, in May reported a second-quarter loss, missing analysts' estimates, because operating expenses rose faster than sales. The Waltham, Mass.-based company is struggling to turn itself into a seller of Linux operating system software amid competition from market leader Red Hat Inc. and the departure of executives.
- Bloomberg News
Sorenson beats lawsuit
A Utah judge has summarily dismissed a lawsuit alleging Sorenson Communications' video relay service for the deaf owes some of its success to purported "trade secrets" mined from a competitor's business plan.
Third District Judge Robert Hilder found claims brought by Hands On Video Relay Services (HOVRS) to be without merit. The Rocklin, Calif., company failed to show that Sorenson Communications had relied on any confidential or proprietary HOVRS information as part of its entry into the video-relay business, the judge ruled.
Sorenson is a leader in providing computer-video links and gear enabling real-time conversations for the deaf, their hearing friends and sign-language trained interpreters. A sister service, Sorenson IP Relay, allows users to place text-based relay calls from either a mobile device or a PC to any telephone user.
CEO James Lee Sorenson said Monday that the dismissal of the suit would now allow the Salt Lake City company to devote time and staff formerly tasked to litigation work to improving products and services to the hard-of-hearing community.
- Bob Mims
