A Utah Department of Workforce Services report released Tuesday adjusted Utah's job growth rate in June from 4.8 to 4.9 percent, the fastest rate seen in nearly a decade. The agency's senior economist, Mark Knold, predicts the rate will continue to drop a bit in the coming months because of a shrinking pool of available workers - unemployment is at 3.4 percent - and a slowing national economy.

"It's not a bad thing. Every growth cycle has its high point," Knold said. "You can have a long period of economic growth with a peak in there somewhere, but it's still growth."

Utah added jobs at the third-fastest rate in the nation in June, the most recent month for which ranking data is available from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

In July, natural resources, construction and professional and business services continued to outpace all other business sectors in Utah. The number of oil, gas and mining jobs was up a whopping 17.5 percent from the previous year, but perhaps manufacturing's modest growth of 3.1 percent was more remarkable.

Only six other states - Washington, Oregon, Nevada, Wyoming, New Mexico and South Dakota - are experiencing growth in manufacturing jobs at 3 percent or higher. South Dakota leads the pack at 4.7 percent. Most states, particularly those east of the Mississippi River, are losing manufacturing jobs as companies follow cheap labor overseas, Knold said.

To "push 3 percent [growth] out of manufacturing is quite a feat," he said. "You have this long history of manufacturing back East. [But] when businesses look at the United States and where the largest [sales] growth will come . . . it's the Western United States."

Utah gained 3,600 manufacturing jobs from July 2005 to July 2006 and is poised to continue its hot streak. Ohio-based KraftMaid Cabinetry Inc. will complete construction on a $100 million manufacturing plant in West Jordan next year and is expected to hire up to 1,300 workers. Conestoga Wood Specialities, based in Pennsylvania, has plans to build a plant in Tooele and employ 180 workers within three years. Plus, manufacturers already in Utah are growing.

"Most everyone is adding employees. I don't see very many companies that are in a downturn," said Stephen Reed, director of operations for the Utah Manufacturing Extension Partnership, a nonprofit that has helped more than 1,500 Utah manufacturers become more efficient over the past decade. "Companies are having a tough time finding skilled manufacturing workers," including welders and machinists.

rwinters@sltrib.com