Utah spawned 44,000 jobs in the past year - a growth rate of 3.9 percent from Dec. 2004 to Dec. 2005, according to the Utah Department of Workforce Services. Nationally, job growth was 1.5 percent in the same period.

The influx of new jobs cut Utah's unemployment rate in December to 3.8 percent, down from 5 percent in Dec. 2004. The national unemployment rate last month was 4.9 percent.

"We're in a strong growth cycle," said DWS economist Austin Sargent. "We are seeing growth in both the high-wage and low-wage areas. That's really good for Utah."

Sargent expects the trend to continue in 2006.

The categories of construction and professional and business services still lead Utah's job growth, followed by education, health services, retail and wholesale trade, utilities and transportation. But all sectors are growing, Sargent said.

Construction added jobs at its fastest pace in 10 years, primarily fueled by demand for new homes. The industry grew by 10,000 jobs in 2005, up 13.2 percent from the previous year.

Jacobsen Construction Co. in Salt Lake City jumped from 359 to 616 employees in 2005 - a 65 percent increase. The growth included 80 employees from the acquisition of another company, but was mainly driven by the need for additional skilled craft workers, said human resources director Lorna Williams. The company is working on large projects such as renovation of the state Capitol and replacing the exterior of the Zions Bank Building downtown.

"Construction will have another good year," Sargent said. "We don't anticipate any large jumps in interest rates that would slow down the residential market."

The professional and business services sector added 8,600 jobs last year. That includes high-paid jobs such as engineers, accountants, architects, industrial designers and technical researchers - jobs that were hard hit by the recession at the beginning of the decade.

Utah also experienced a big jump in staffing through employment agencies, a phenomenon that Sargent calls a "barometer" of future employment growth. Businesses often draw on temporary staffing agencies during times of rapid growth and then later expand their permanent work forces.

The number of people working for employment services increased 15.2 percent in 2005. That could signal an even higher job growth rate in 2006, according to Workforce Services.

rwinters@sltrib.com